


Things Never Change

by FullOnLarrie



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Boys Communicating, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Humor, I’m sorry, Lamps, Louis in Glasses, M/M, Omg there are so many fic and smut cliches, Profanity, SWEET BOYS, Skateboarder Louis, Smut, Student Harry, all of the larry cliches, almost left that one off, antiques, but there it is, niall breaking stuff, not sure why i felt it was necessary when the first tag is smut, so i'm not sure how else to tag, this is my first fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-08
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-08-20 06:31:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8239397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FullOnLarrie/pseuds/FullOnLarrie
Summary: Harry is about to graduate from college with a degree in Library Science, Louis is an antiques dealer.  They meet and fall in love.





	1. They Meet

**Author's Note:**

> This is the very first thing I ever wrote! Pretty much 100% fluff and contains as many 1D clichés as I could fit.
> 
>  
> 
> **If you’d like to translate any of my fics, feel free, but please post the translation on ao3, and send me a link so that I can include it in the author’s notes.**
> 
> **Please do not post this fic or any of my other fics on any other websites.**

Harry woke up fairly early on the weekends. Saturdays were the only days that he had to do chores and run errands before he had to be at work at 3pm. He didn't have school or any commitments other than work and he liked being able to run his errands without being rushed. Today was a bit different because he had a special, unexpected errand to run. 

He knocked on his roommate's door and waited for a response. None came, so he knocked again, this time a little louder. He heard a groan and a rustling sound and then a burp. 

"Hey, Niall? Are you alright? Are you going thrifting with me today?"

"Harry, it's... it's like..." Harry heard more rustling, a thump and another burp. "Where's my damn phone? Oh, shit, ohhhh ok good...fuck that could've been bad." 

"Niall? I'm getting ready to leave in a bit. Are you coming? Are you alright?" 

"Yeah, man, I'm fine. Couldn't find my phone. It was under my ass. Must've slept on it. Shit." 

Harry cracked the door and peeked inside. Niall was sprawled diagonally across his bed with one leg sticking out from underneath his blanket and a pillow covering his face. "Are you coming with me?" Harry asked quietly. 

"It's 9am on a Saturday, Harry."

"Niall. I need a new lamp. You broke my favorite reading lamp last night when you came into my bedroom. I'm still not sure what you were doing in there, but you tripped over my laundry hamper, knocked it down and broke it. You promised to replace it today. "

"Ahhhh shit," Niall grumbled from beneath his pillow, "I'll go with you later. Let me sleep, please. How about after lunch? We can go then."

"No, Nialler. You know that I have to work tonight, because you do too. "

Whatever noise Niall made next wasn't a word or words or intentional. Harry wasn't sure it even came from his mouth. Gross. 

"Fine. Whatever. I'm buying a new lamp and you're paying for it since you broke my old one." 

"Ok, ok, dude. There's some cash in my wallet. Buy lamps. Get yourself some coffee. Or a tranquilizer. Go away. I'm sleeping. I love you. Bye."

Harry started to close the door when he heard more grumbling. 

"What'd you say, Nialler?"

A muffled whine came from the bed and then, barely discernible, "Please bring me something for my head."

Harry giggled and answered, "Sure thing, babe. Be right back.” before heading to the kitchen for a glass of water and a few tablets of ibuprofen. Niall would be feeling fine in a few hours. He had the magical ability to bounce back from hangovers. Harry used to wish for the same ability, but had eventually decided he was better off just drinking a little less to begin with; hangovers were a bitch. He slipped into his roommate's bedroom and deposited the water and pills on his bedside table, leaned over and ruffled Niall's hair, then turned around and left the room. 

Harry grabbed his wallet, keys, phone and sunglasses and headed out to his old Ford Bronco. It was a piece of shit and probably cost more to keep running than a monthly new car payment, but it was his, and he loved it. He bought it before he started his freshman year and it was still kicking almost four years later, even though it was almost twenty years old.

Harry was actually excited that Niall was still hungover. He wouldn’t be rushed. No one would judge him if he wanted to spend half an hour staring at mismatched antique tea cups and saucers or milk glass flower vases. He had a mission though. He couldn't spend the day looking for cool, old, mirrors covered in spots where the silver was wearing off or jade glass candy dishes. He needed a lamp. He'd heard good things about an antique shop near his neighborhood. He'd never been because the parking lot was tiny and his old Bronco would be impossible to park, but his friend Lu had said it was worth the parking lot stress, so he decided to brave it. 

It was only a three minute drive; it took him longer to park than it did to drive there. There was an old U-Haul truck in the parking area and Harry's truck took up two-thirds of the rest of the space. It really was small. If anyone else wanted to visit the store while he was there, they'd have to park elsewhere unless they were driving a smart car. 

Lu had told Harry that the little store was jam packed with treasure and Harry was looking forward to picking through the shelves and baskets of nicknacks, chipped wine glasses, dusty books, and old ashtrays. He hadn't had a fun Saturday morning in a long time. 

Twenty-two years old and the first fun Saturday in months was spent alone thrifting. But he would enjoy himself. He liked what he liked; no use feeling bad about it. 

The low brick building was small. He wasn't surprised he'd driven past it so many times without really noticing it. The gas station next door was open odd hours and only had 2 pumps. The Taco Bell on the other side needed updating 10 years ago. It was easy to ignore what was between them. But the store looked cute. Square and simple. The roof was flat and the shape of the building reminded him of something out of Minecraft. The brick was painted a pale blue and on the side that was accessible from the parking area, there was a little collection of plant pots with flowers and vines climbing every which way. Above the plants was a large, old wagon wheel. It was painted green and hung from two nails hammered into the mortar between the bricks. The store's rectangular sign hung above, slightly crooked and obviously hand painted. On a yellow background, the words 'The Winding Wheel' were painted. The letters were large, uppercase script in a lovely grass green. Underneath, in smaller lower case print in the same pale blue as the brick, were the words ‘Antiques & Collectibles’. 

 

Harry started to get his thrifting hopes up. This place was adorable. The kind of thrift store you heard about, but never found in real life. He could kick himself for not coming in sooner.

Harry rounded the front corner of the building and peered through the warped, slightly dirty glass of the picture window. Wow. The front window display was basically a creatively arrayed stack of chairs. It actually looked a bit...dangerous. What if something fell? Harry decided to avoid that area of the store. He glanced up at the cheerful, hand painted ‘Open’ sign, pushed the door and entered the shop. 

__________________________

 

Louis heard the ringing bell that meant someone had come into the store. He checked the antique sunburst wall clock. It was early; he’d unlocked the door just a few minutes before. He normally spent Saturday mornings organizing and deciding what to clean or repair from the pieces he'd found at the estate and yard sales he'd visited before dawn that morning. 

He heaved himself up from the floor, where he'd been working on replacing the casters on an antique piano. This was quite a piece and he'd been thrilled when he'd found it.The monster weighed close to 300 lbs and getting it into his workshop had been near impossible. Thankfully, his roommate Liam was able to help him heft the instrument down the ramp of his truck and into the workroom at the back of the shop. Over a hundred years old with original ebony and ivory keys and all it needed was a cleaning, a tuning, and new casters. Louis could do all that himself. He hoped to sell it for twice what he'd paid for it, once it was cleaned and tuned and ready to go. He could eat for weeks on that kind of money. 

Louis adjusted his shirt and jeans, made sure he wasn't too dusty from crawling around on the floor with the piano, grabbed his mug of tea, and began to make his way toward the front of the shop. He shouted a polite, "Hello, welcome to The Winding Wheel! Let me know if there's anything I can help you find." 

He carefully picked his way around the stacks and piles of things behind the display cases and cash register. He pushed his glasses up where they'd slid down his nose, began to straighten the papers stacked messily beside the cash register, took a sip of tea, and choked as he caught sight of the gorgeous boy who was standing in his shop staring at his favorite shelf of tea cups and saucers. 

__________________________

 

"Thanks!" Harry shouted in the direction the welcome had come from. He assumed the person who greeted him was behind the shelf full of old globes and rolled up maps, so he didn't look up from the delicate tea cup in his hand. It was beautiful, but he couldn't have something like this in a kitchen he shared with Niall. It wouldn't last a week. He sighed quietly and gently placed the cup back into its saucer on the shelf. One day he’d have his own home and he would fill his kitchen with antique tea cups and cast iron pans. 

Harry has almost cried the night he’d come home from work and found his one and only cast iron skillet soaking in a sink full of greasy dish water and deflated suds. He’d carefully cleaned it, dried it and packed it away under his bed. He knew Niall hadn’t meant any harm, but he also knew he wouldn’t handle it well if his grandmother’s cast iron developed rust, so the next day he’d purchased a cheap set of stainless steel pots and pans for their small shared house. 

He turned toward the window display that he'd seen from outside and made his way over to it. As he came closer, he realized that it wasn't a haphazard stack of chairs, but was some sort of sculpture. The chairs on the bottom were bolted to the floor, some at odd angles, but each chair was clearly placed with intention and they were all connected to each other with screws and bolts and possibly glue. There were seven mismatched chairs and they were each painted a different color. 

"Roy G. Biv." Harry chuckled to himself. "It's a rainbow." He loved it. Rainbows held a special place in his heart; he came out to his family when he was thirteen and his mom had baked a rainbow cake for him that same day. It had become their special way of saying ‘I love you’ - a sketch of a rainbow on a post-it stuck to the bathroom mirror, pictures sent back and forth on their phones of rainbows when they saw them, and emojis as soon as they had smart phones. His mom had been very excited with the latest update to her phone that added a rainbow flag to her emojis; she sent him a text with 22 of them on his birthday. 

The more he saw of this little shop, the more he wanted to see. He could probably spend all day here and not see everything. "Lamps!" Harry blurted, thinking out loud. He had shit to do today. Groceries to buy, laundry to do, he needed to swing by the gas station on the way home. And he needed a lamp. Disappointed that he wouldn't be able to spend much more time in this lovely little shop, he turned away from the chair sculpture and started in the direction he thought the earlier welcome call had come from. He might as well ask if they had any lamps before he spent the entire morning wandering about and getting distracted. 

"Excuse me?" Harry called as he walked toward what he assumed was the cash register. He approached the shelf of old globes and tripped when he saw the beautiful man standing behind the glass display case. 

__________________________

 

Louis stared at the gorgeous man as he gently placed the tea cup back on the shelf. He looked down at his work clothes and silently cursed himself for choosing comfort (and safety) over style. Saturdays were his heavy workload days and he almost always wore the exact same thing—his old, baggy, threadbare jeans from before skinny jeans were a thing, a plain white t-shirt, a soft, faded blue and green plaid flannel shirt, and his steel toe work boots. 

The boots were the ugliest thing he’d ever put on his body, that included anything he’d worn in the late 1990s. They were a weird shade between brown and yellow, they were worn, splattered in several different paint colors, had mismatched laces, and were missing about half of the metal eyelets. They served a purpose though, and they’d saved Louis from crushing his toes more than once. Liam had given them to him after he’d broken two toes on his left foot in an incident involving a credenza. After Liam took him to urgent care, he went out to pick up something for dinner, and showed up an hour later with a bucket of Bojangles fried chicken and the steel toe boots. Louis had never worn his Vans to work again.

Louis rubbed his eyes and tried to get a better look at the man while he was looking at Louis’ chair sculpture. He’d made it on a whim one day last year after he’d been to the closest Pride celebration, and by closest, he meant a two hour drive away. He could see him smiling at the chairs and Louis was relieved. Not everyone in this town was supportive of the LGBTQ+ community and he’d had a few rude comments about the sculpture. Louis sipped his tea and debated whether he should approach him. The decision was made for him when the man walked around the corner and toward the display case that Louis was standing behind. As the man approached the counter, his foot caught on the corner of the shelf of maps and globes and he stumbled right into the edge of the display case and caught himself on the back of the cash register. “Oops!” the man squeaked out as he righted himself. He looked up at Louis’ behind the counter. 

Oh, wow, dimples.“Hi,” Louis replied with a smile. 

__________________________

 

Oh my god. Harry had just made the worst first impression ever. He’d tripped and almost fallen completely over in front of this beautiful man and then he’d squeaked. He had actually squeaked the word oops. Could Doctor Who please come and rescue him with his TARDIS and let him start this day over again? He could feel the blush staining his cheeks. He took a deep breath and soldiered on. The man was still standing there, smiling. At least, if Harry was going to die of embarrassment, he’d go looking at the pretty man in front of him. He was shorter than Harry, with lighter, caramel colored hair that was messily pushed to one side. A scruffy beard covered his jaw line and a pair of black, rectangular glasses were perched on his nose. From behind the glasses, a pair of beautiful blue eyes peered up at him. 

“Helloooooo, hi. I’m… um… lamp!” Harry stammered. Maybe he should make a run for it. No, he’d probably trip again and take down some expensive, breakable, irreplaceable antique. 

“Lamp?” The man was still smiling at him. 

“I’m sorry. Yeah, lamp, I, um, I need a lamp. Do you have any?” Harry asked, silently hoping he’d wake up from what he’d started to think was a bad dream on par with the one where he showed up to school with no pants and everyone pointed and laughed. 

“Oh! Yeah, sure, I have lamps!” the man answered. “Right over here. Follow me… I’m sorry, I’m Louis. What’s your name?”

“Um… Harry. I’m Harry.” Oh my god, why couldn’t he introduce himself without stammering. He wanted to cry. He was going to kill Niall. This was clearly his fault. He’d broken Harry’s lamp and now Harry was going to embarrass himself to death. 

“Nice to meet you, Harry.” Louis smiled again. “The lamps are this way. I had a bunch of outlets and a separate breaker installed back here, so I can plug them in and unplug them and I don’t have to worry about looking for an outlet or blowing a fuse or anything.”

Harry could feel his blush returning. Louis was talking about lamps. Electricity. Outlets. The words plug and blow were not just sexual words, they could apply to many things, Harry berated himself, Louis was talking about lamps, for fucks sake. He needed to focus. Lamps.

“Cool. Smart. Um… I’m really sorry about earlier. I can be a bit clumsy and I just realized that I didn’t even apologize and I could’ve broken something valuable.”

Louis apologized right back, “No! Um...sorry. Just… no. You don’t need to apologize. I didn't even ask if you were alright! My shop is over full and I trip over the corner of that shelf all the time… should probably move it or put up a sign or something. I’m just glad you didn’t get hurt. I should be the one saying sorry.” 

“Oh… well, alright then. I don’t think you need to apologize either. Um… I could help you? Move the shelf, I mean.” 

“Thanks, Harry, that’s… that’s really nice of you to offer, but no. If I’m going to move it, I’ll have to move more than just the one shelf. I’ll have to take some time to figure out where I’m going to put everything… Nevermind! Thanks, though, that’s sweet of you to offer. Here ya go. Lamps!” Louis said with a small giggle. He walked into a dark room and flipped a wall switch. The room was suddenly bright and Harry couldn’t help but stare. There were tables and shelves along all four walls and every surface was covered in lamps. It was weird and yet, it was cool. There were dozens of lamps in every size, shape, style, and color. 

Harry’s eye caught on a large one in the corner. 

“Is that blue lamp heavy? I’d like to get one that’s hard to knock over or break. My roommate broke my lamp last night, that’s why I’m here. I need a replacement, but I don’t want one he’s just going to break again next week.”

“Yeah, yeah. That one’s pretty heavy duty. It was made by a local ceramics artist. She made quite a few of lamps. Very retro 70s vibe. You like that sort of thing?”

“Yeah, I do. I love the 70s.” Harry smiled and looked down at his clothes. He was wearing his favorite old, ripped Rolling Stones t-shirt that was probably held together by the same sort of magic that held Keith Richards together. Oh, and safety pins, it was also held together with safety pins. His black skinny jeans had holes in the knees and his scuffed brown boots were so old that Niall had taken to setting them next to the trash every Thursday. So far, Harry had managed to grab them every Friday morning before Niall could take them out to the curb. Harry looked over at Louis, huffed a little laugh and said, “Sometimes I feel like I was born in the wrong decade.”

Louis smiled at him and Harry noticed that behind his glasses, his eyes were almost shockingly blue. Amazing. They had little crinkles in the corners when he smiled. His teeth were sharp and his lips were pink. He had a scruffy beard that was almost auburn, a slightly different shade that the caramel colored hair on his head. His hair looked soft. It was swept to the side and Louis kept adjusting it and trying to tuck a longer strand behind his ear. Harry wanted to reach out and...

“... and it’s been here for months.” 

Harry realized that Louis had been talking and he’d just been staring at him and hadn’t heard a word he’d said. “Sorry, what?”

“That lamp, the one you asked about? I said, it’s been here for months and I have it tagged at $75 dollars, but I’ll sell it to you for $50.”

“Oh, no, you don’t have to do that, Louis! I’ll pay full price!” Harry belatedly noticed he was practically shouting and slapped his hand over his mouth. His eyes went wide and he slowly removed his hand and whispered, “I’m sorry. I don’t want you to lose money. I’ll pay the $75.”

“Nah, man, it’s alright. I got a bulk price from the artist’s estate sale when I bought it. I’m not losing money. It’s just taking up space, and, like I said, it’s been sitting here for months, so I’m happy for you to take it off my hands.”

“Well, alright then, thanks. I’ll take it.”

_____________________________

 

Louis moved to unplug the lamp and wrap up the cord. 

Harry was adorable. Louis was smitten and didn’t even know the guy’s last name. He was just so endearing and sweet. Apologising like that, over and over. And he was hot. So hot. When Louis had first seen his face, he’d been stunned by how pretty he was. Big green eyes, red lips and, something he’d never even thought to find attractive before, his two front teeth! He was just gorgeous. And then he’d seen Harry’s legs in those tight black jeans and he was a goner. His thighs were stunning. 

Louis was really regretting wearing his work jeans. He vowed to only wear them for painting projects in the future. He took the shade off the lamp and set it aside. He started to squat down to reach behind the shelf and unplug the lamp, but then he stopped himself. Might as well give it a shot. His bum was pretty spectacular, even in baggy old jeans, so he decided to let it do it’s thing. He bent right over at the waist and reached behind the shelf. He leaned over a little more so that his flannel and t-shirt shifted a bit and he felt them ride up and expose the skin above the waist of his jeans. He wondered if the top of his underwear was peeking out. He was desperate. 

He didn’t know what to say to Harry. He kept talking about lamps! It was the weirdest conversation and he couldn’t stop talking about lamps! His bum was practically waving in Harry’s face and he could still hear himself talking about lamps. Shut up, Louis! He wiggled the plug out of the wall and wiggled his ass at the same time. 

He heard a gasp. A ha! It was working. He’d have to call his mom later and thank her for blessing him with this bum. He slowly straightened and wrapped up the cord. He picked up the lamp, turned around and asked, “Is there anything else I can help you with today, Harry?” He was trying to keep his voice level, but instead it came out a little bit like a purr. Uh oh, maybe he should reel it in. He didn’t want to overdo it. “Um… I saw you looking at the teacups earlier. Were you interested in any of those?” Nice save, dumb ass, you’ve now gone from running your mouth non stop about lamps to practically using your bedroom voice and now you’re talking about tea cups. 

It wasn’t even ten o’clock in the morning and Louis wanted a drink. 

_______________________

 

Harry couldn’t believe what he’d just seen. Louis had to have to nicest ass out of literally the entire planet. He’d had to practice his yoga breathing in order to not get hard while he watched Louis bend over and wiggle around right in front of him. He needed to get out of here. He needed to go home. He really needed to do his errands and chores before work. He needed to wank. Yep. He needed to buy his lamp and drive home and wank. He’d eat food from the restaurant tonight and hit up the all night grocery after he got off work. He closed his eyes and willed his dick to behave. When he opened his eyes, Louis was walking toward him with the lamp. He was saying something about tea cups. Harry was losing his mind, but at least he’d heard what Louis was saying this time.

“Um… yeah, I love the teacups, but I can’t buy any. My roommate will just break them. Thanks, though, so… yeah, just the lamp and I’ll be out of your hair.”

“Oh, ok. Well, um, right this way, Harry. I’ll wrap up your lamp and help you out to your car.”

Harry was silently cursing himself during the whole transaction, yet he managed to get his wallet out and hand over the cash without falling over or breaking anything. 

Louis led Harry to the back door that opened into the parking area. “Is this yours?” Louis chuckled as he nodded at the Bronco that was using up most of the parking area. 

“Maybe. Is that yours?,” Harry scrunched his nose and pointed at the old U-Haul. 

Louis laughed and said, “Yeah, the official truck of The Winding Wheel.” Harry carried the shade over to his truck; he opened the passenger door and set the shade on the floorboard, then he gestured for Louis to set the lamp in the seat. Louis squinted at him and shrugged. He settled the lamp into to passenger seat and laughed when Harry proceeded to buckle it in. 

“Hey,” Harry lengthened the vowel sound and smiled, “safety first! Don’t want to get knocked in the head by a flying lamp if I get into an accident.”

“True, true,” Louis grinned, then looked away.

“Um… yeah, so I, um, I guess I’ll see you around? Next time I need a lamp, I know where to go! Ha ha!” Harry couldn’t believe this shit. He’d just said the words ha ha. “Soooo… bye, Louis.” He climbed into his truck and started the engine. 

Louis stood by the back door of his shop as Harry backed out of the parking space. Harry looked over and caught Louis’ eye; he raised his hand to wave, but just as he did, Louis yelled, “Wait!” And jogged over to the passenger window and reached inside. “Harry, here’s my business card, ya know, for… if you need help with your lamp or something.” He looked away, then looked back at Harry and smiled, “See ya!” Then, he turned and jogged back to the open back door of his shop and slipped inside. 

Harry watched his ass bounce as he jogged away. What a view. Harry smiled the whole way home. He was still smiling while he lugged his lamp up the front steps, his grin was still in place when set up the lamp on his bedside table, plugged it in, sat down on his bed, and wedged the business card under it for safekeeping. Louis’ last name was Tomlinson. Harry couldn't stop smiling. His face was starting to hurt. 

His smile was even bigger twenty minutes later when he stepped out of the shower, freshly washed and freshly wanked. He grinned throughout his shift at the restaurant that night and his customers loved it. He'd never gotten so many compliments on his dimples before. He even smiled while he shopped at the all night grocery after work. He was going to call Louis the next day because Louis wanted him to. He didn’t need help with his lamp, but he was sure as shit going to tell Louis that he did.


	2. They Tell Their Friends

After Louis gave Harry his business card, he’d hidden by the front window and watched him drive away. He could see Harry’s face and his smile and, yep, he could see the dimple. Louis was hopeful that his ridiculous line had worked instead of making Harry think he was an idiot. 

“Help with your lamp, honestly, I can’t believe I said that shit,” Louis muttered to himself as he sat back down on the floor beside the piano. He needed to get it ready to move onto the shop floor. He'd downloaded an app that was supposed to help him tune it and Liam was coming by in a few hours to help him move the thing. He hoped the new casters would make it easier to maneuver. 

________________________________

 

Harry was tired. He worked evenings at Niall’s mom’s restaurant to support himself while he was in school and it had been crazy busy at that night. They’d been short one server because Lu had called in sick. Sick, meaning she was too hungover from Friday night to bother coming in on Saturday, their busiest day. The restaurant was small, with fewer than fifteen tables and a small bar with a dozen or so stools. Harry was serving with the new girl, Nic, who was supposed to still be training with Lu. 

Even poor Niall was so frazzled behind the bar at one point that he told Harry and Nic to offer any bottle of wine on special for 10% off so that he didn’t have to make drinks for a while. Niall's mom Amanda was hosting when she wasn’t busy helping everywhere else. By the time the last table was served their dessert, Harry, Nic, Niall and Amanda were already drinking their first glass of red wine in the kitchen. Niall called it Free Wine Saturdays, he was creative with names that way. He had named his mom’s restaurant Bistro 33 when he was eleven years old. Bistro, because it was a bistro, and 33 because his mom was 33 when she opened it. It was silly, but people liked the story. Amanda and Niall had agreed that any open bottle of red wine probably wouldn’t be good to serve by the time Tuesday evening rolled around, so they poured it for the employees. Most of the kitchen staff had already downed a glass of wine and clocked out. Harry almost always hung out at the bar, helped Niall with his closing duties, walked Amanda to her car, and walked home with Niall. Their house was only four blocks from the restaurant, so they usually walked into work together and walked home afterwards. 

After work, Harry and Niall went out front to sit on their porch and finish off an open bottle of cabernet that Niall had grabbed from behind the bar. Niall carried the bottle and Harry followed behind him with two coffee mugs. Wine glasses didn’t survive long with Niall around.

They rehashed the night, bitching about customers and coworkers while drinking their wine. 

Niall stretched his arms and back and yawned. “Hey, man, did you find a lamp today? You didn’t take my cash stash.”

“Oh, yeah, I got a lamp. You owe me $50, Nialler, but I’m going to let it slide if I get a date with Louis.” Harry smirked and downed the last of his wine. 

“Who’s Louis? $50 for a lamp, H? That’s fuckin’ crazy. Want more wine?” Niall reached for the bottle and turned it upside down over his mug, “Nevermind, dude, it’s gone.” 

Harry set his mug down on the table, leaned back in his chair and smiled at Niall, waiting for the inevitable.

“Louis? Date? What is going on? Why didn’t you say somethin’ earlier? Is this why you had that shit eating grin plastered on your face all night? Do we need another bottle?” Niall started to get up from his chair, but Harry waved him off.

“It’s nothing yet. He works at the shop where I bought my lamp. He’s gorgeous. Beautiful blue eyes, the best ass I’ve ever seen, and sweet. So sweet, Niall. He gave me his business card and told me to call if I need help with my lamp. That’s a line, right? He wants me to call him?”

“Sounds like a line to me, H. Can’t imagine ever needing help with a lamp.” Niall snickered, stood, and collected the empty bottle and mugs. “I’m headed to bed. Still feel like shit from last night and running around like a chicken with its head cut off all evening didn’t make me feel any better. ‘Night, dude, don’t wake me up tomorrow.”

Harry stood up, opened the front door for Niall and followed him inside. He stretched his arms above his head, yawned into his shoulder, and said, “‘Night, Ni.” He walked into the bathroom and called over his shoulder, “Don’t let the bedbugs bite!” 

He shut the door and could hear Niall’s indignantly shouting, “You know I hate that shit! I’m gonna be itchy until I take a shower, you asshole! Hurry the fuck up so I can get in there and wash the heebie jeebies off.”

Harry laughed as he turned on the shower. 

________________________________

 

Louis spent the rest of his Saturday morning working on the piano. Then, he spent the afternoon moving the globes and maps from their shelf into the back room so that Liam could help him move that too. He had a few customers throughout the day. One of his regulars, a lovely woman named Katie, came in looking for another dining room table. She loved decorating her house and was in the process of choosing new wallpaper for her dining room and kitchen. They spoke for a few minutes about what she wanted and he promised to keep an eye out for a mid-century modern dining set. 

After Katie left, carrying a box of antique wine goblets, he walked around his shop and stared at his shelves, tables and bookcases. He spent about an hour sketching different layouts, and then realized that he could switch the globe shelf with the tea cup shelf fairly easily. He spent another hour or so moving his precious tea cups into the back room so that Liam could help him move that shelf too. Liam was going to demand pizza and beer as payment for all the heavy lifting, but Louis didn’t mind. He could use a beer or two and pizza was always delicious.

Liam showed up right before five o’clock and didn’t even blink when Louis explained about the shelves and the piano. He’d cleared a space for the piano the day before, and with the new casters it was much easier to move around. They finished and Louis locked up. It wasn’t quite 6:30PM, the perfect time to swing by the store, pick up a couple of frozen pizzas and a case of beer. 

Louis rode home with Liam so that he didn’t have to drive his giant converted U-haul truck. It was the best truck for his business and he’d gotten it at a steal of a price, but it was not a car to drive around town in. He was glad to live close enough to his business that he could ride his skateboard into work most days or catch a ride with Liam if the weather was bad. 

Liam and Louis got home just after 7:00PM. Louis went straight to the kitchen and turned on the oven, stuck the case of beer in the fridge, grabbed two bottles and opened them. He handed one to Liam over the breakfast bar that separated the kitchen from the living room and took a long pull from his bottle. 

“Beer shower. Pop those in the oven for 15 minutes when it beeps.” They clanked the necks of their beer bottles together, Liam turned around and started to set up the Playstation, and Louis headed for the shower. He loved his Saturday evening showers; he’d open a cold beer and set it on the ledge next to his shampoo and take a sip or two in between each stage of his shower. By the time he got to his final rinse, he’d be on his last swallow. It was perfect. He stepped out of the shower, toweled off, and opened the door to his room. He threw his dirty clothes in the direction of the hamper, tossed his towel onto the back of his desk chair, and pulled on some sweatpants and an old Bruce Springsteen t-shirt. As he opened his bedroom door, he heard the oven timer go off. He shuffled up to the breakfast bar just as Liam pulled the pizzas out of the oven. 

“Thanks again for your help, man. That piano would’ve been a bitch to move by myself,” Louis said as he hopped onto a stool and reached across the bar for a slice of hot pizza. “Can you hand me a beer, please?”

“No problem, you know I don’t want to have to drag your ass to the ER again. I’m always available to help you with the heavy lifting, you know that.” Liam laughed around a mouthful of bubbling cheese. “Shit, that's hot!”

“It wasn’t the ER, it was urgent care, Li, and yes, food comes out of the oven hot.” Louis rolled his eyes and stood up. He took his beer and pizza, walked into the living room and asked, “What are we playing tonight?”

“Minecraft. The kids at school are always talking about it, they wear shirts and hoodies and stuff with Minecraft characters on it, and I’ve heard it’s a cool game. Kids are learning to code with it.” Liam was always so excited to learn about the new, fun things his students were into.

“Alright, man, let’s go.”

A couple of hours later, Louis and Liam were done. The pizzas were almost gone, they’d each had a few more beers, and they’d gotten the hang of the game. It was fun, but very different than anything they usually played.

“I met someone today.” Louis looked at Liam to see what his response would be. 

“Really? Where?” Liam laughed. “At a yard sale? You only meet housewives in their thirties and retirees in their eighties at The Winding Wheel. When was the last time you went out?”

“No, jackass. He came into the shop looking for a lamp.” Louis spoke quickly, one of his nervous habits. He took a deep breath and barreled on, “His name is Harry. He’s just gorgeous, Li, he’s got dark hair and green eyes and the prettiest teeth! His legs are amazing and his—”

Liam cut him off. “Teeth? He has pretty teeth?”

“Shut up, they’re beautiful. Everything about him is beautiful. Seemed like he really liked the shop, too. I helped him out to his car—”

“What the hell did he buy if you had to help him to his car?” Liam’s cheeks were pink from laughter.

“He bought a lamp,” Louis mumbled and when Liam’s laughter threatened to drown him out, he threw the last piece of pizza crust at him. “Shut. Up. He bought a lamp and I didn’t want him to leave, so I carried it to his truck. He’s lovely, Li. He buckled the lamp into the front seat! I didn’t know what to say because I kept making an ass of myself. I kept talking about lamps and teacups while he was in the shop, but I kind of got the feeling he liked me, so before he could drive off, I gave him my card and I…” Louis stopped talking and looked away as his face turned pink with embarrassment. 

“What did you do, dude? I bet it’s good. You're never as cool as you think you are. Tell me, please,” Liam begged, tears in his eyes from trying and failing to hold his cackling.

Louis knew he was going to get so much shit for this, so he turned to face his friend, opened his eyes and blurted out, “I gave him my card and told him to call me if he needed help with his lamp!”

Liam’s face said it all. His mouth hung open for a second before he dramatically faked falling to floor to continue howling and pointing at Louis. “Help… with… his … lamp? Is that a euphemism?”

Louis pretended to kick him in the ribs a few times before actually poking him in the ribs with his toes and then flopping down on top of him and tickling him until he screamed for mercy.

“Do you think he’ll call, Li?” Louis asked as he rolled off of Liam’s stomach and onto his back. They were side by side on the floor between the living room and kitchen, clothes in disarray from their tickle fight.

“Yeah, man, probably. What a line. That is one for the books. That beats ‘Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?’ and ‘Is your daddy a thief? Because he stole the stars and put them in your eyes.’ Shit, man, what did he say?” Liam sighed and put his hands over his eyes.

“I ran away! I said ‘see ya’ and ran inside the store! I watched him drive off though, and he was smiling. It really wasn’t a line. He made me stupid. Not like he made me feel stupid, it was like… I saw him and my brain vacated the premises. Ugh. I gotta go to bed. I need to sleep so I’m not sitting here thinking about how dumb I must have sounded offering to help him with his lamp. ‘Night, Li.” Louis clambered up off the floor, straightened his sweatpants, and offered a hand up to his roommate.

Liam grasped his hand, stood up, swung his arm around Louis’ shoulder and said, “I think he’ll call, Louis. If he didn’t laugh in your face when you said that, I think he must like you, too. ‘Night, man.” 

“Thanks, Li, are we doing brunch tomorrow?” 

“Every Sunday when we're single, isn't that in the roommate rulebook?”

Louis chuckled, “Rule number 78,” and shuffled off to his bedroom. 

________________________________

 

Harry was up early again, this time so he could get a quick run in before doing his laundry and schoolwork. He did his usual three mile loop, down the road, past the restaurant, to the river walk, around the path there and back home. He loved running by the river in the early morning when he could hear it rush by. It was one of his favorite places. 

 

Harry tried to be quiet while he did his laundry so that Niall could sleep late. He was so glad to have this house with Niall. It was so much better than a dorm. Amanda owned the house, but they paid her a fair rent. The house had belonged to her parents and it worked out well to have Niall and Harry so close to the restaurant, in case of emergencies. 

Harry had stuff to do today. He'd thought about Louis on his run. He'd decided to wait until the afternoon to call because he didn't want to seem too eager and it gave him a sort of deadline to get his school work done. He had so much to read for the following week. Better get started. He turned on his new lamp and opened the first book. 

Around noon, Harry heard Niall's door open and saw him sleepily wander towards the bathroom. “Coffee is a few hours old. I can make more, if you want,” he called after Niall. 

“Thanks, yeah, please,” Niall answered from behind the bathroom door. 

Harry needed to take a break and stretch his legs anyway, and coffee was always a good idea. He made a fresh pot and leaned against the counter while it brewed. Niall appeared before the coffee was finished, so they chatted while they waited. 

“You gonna call that guy, H? Ask him to help you plug in your lamp or whatever it was?” Niall giggled. 

“Very funny, Ni. Yes, I'm going to call him, but not until I finish my reading. Oh, lemme switch the laundry. Pour me a cup, would ya? It's done brewing.” Harry stepped into the laundry room and set the washer to run again. Harry spoke up so that Niall could hear him over the rumble of the drier, “Restaurant stink is the worst.” 

“I keep tellin’ ya, we need some of that Clorox2 or oxyclean or something. I'll put it on the list,” Niall said as he turned to scribble on the magnetic notepad on their freezer. 

“Sounds like you've been watching commercials again,” Harry chuckled, “I gotta get back to it.” 

He carefully carried his mug to his room and went back to his reading and note taking. A few hours later, Harry was finished. He packed up his school stuff, flopped onto his bed and checked his phone. Time to call Louis. He tugged the business card from under the edge of his new lamp and opened his phone contacts to enter Louis’ info. He decided to add the lightbulb and the electrical plug emojis. He couldn't believe there was no lamp emoji. He pressed call and waited for Louis to answer. 

________________________________

 

Louis slept in on most Sundays, unless there was an estate sale or a yard sale that had been advertised as Sunday only, and he'd heard of nothing like that this weekend. To him, sleeping in just meant he wasn't up at 5AM like he was on Saturdays. 

He called his mom while he made his first cup of tea. He sometimes met his mom at the riverwalk and they'd walk for an hour or so, looping the path over and over until one of them decided they'd had enough. Louis had grown up an only child, just him and his mom and grandma. His mom had always been his best friend, so even after she met and married his stepdad a few years ago, he still loved spending one-on-one time with her.

“Hello, Boo, you're calling early. No sales today?” His mom always just started talking without waiting for a response when she picked up the phone. Louis wondered what would happen if he butt dialed her. 

“Nope, nothing today, Ma. Up for a walk?” Louis asked. “I've got your tea.” He poured the water into two travel mugs and headed for the door. He knew she'd probably race him there. 

“I’m a bit tired today, but I’m walking out the door already, you?” 

“Me, too, see ya there!” Louis hung up and stuck his phone in his back pocket. His vans were by the door, so he slipped them on and tucked his skateboard under his arm. 

Louis rolled up to the river walk as his mom was parking her car. They'd tied. 

“Hi, Ma!” He yelled and waved from the sidewalk. He skated over to her car so he could put his board in the back seat while they walked. 

“Hey, Boo, I missed you.” His mom yawned. She waited to speak until he was close enough that she didn't have to shout. She didn’t like to shout and he could only recall a few times that she’d yelled at 

“Let's walk,” he said as he handed over her tea and offered his arm.

The river walk was a mile loop that began by the playground, followed along the riverside, and crossed over the boat docks. The town had put some money into it, their one “attraction” for visitors. The loop was wide and set with large brick pavers in some areas and long wooden planks in others. There was a gazebo on the far end of the loop that was cantilevered over the river, wide swings every few hundred feet on the walkway, a fenced playground with slides and swings and climbing structures right at the beginning of the river walk, and a bridge that curved up and over the entrance to the boat docks.

They walked for a little more than an hour. His mom seemed a little quieter than normal, but Louis quickly filled the silence by telling her about his week: the piano that he'd found, the sales he'd made, Katie and her new dining room, an elderly lady who'd purchased a single tea cup for herself, and finally, last but not least, Harry. He felt silly describing this beautiful boy that he’d only met for a few moments, but he always shared important things with his mom and Harry seemed so lovely and, well, significant. She smiled at him and said she thought he sounded like a wonderful young man. She did laugh when Louis remembered to thank her for blessing him with his bum. 

“Boo, I need to tell you something important, so listen, please, and let me finish before you say anything.”

Louis stopped walking and sat down on one of the wooden bench swings that lined the river walk. His mom joined him and began, “Dan and I have been trying to get pregnant.” Louis eyes widened in shock, but he pressed his lips together to keep from speaking, even though he wanted to jump and down; he’d always secretly longed for a brother or sister. “It's been a year of trying and I'm pregnant. 12 weeks. With twins.”

Louis stared at her with his mouth clamped shut, and his stomach cartwheeling. Not just one sibling, but two! She gently punched his shoulder and told him he could speak

 

“Ma! Did we walk too much? I don't want you overdoing it. Can I help you to your car?” Louis felt a little overwhelmed. 

His mom smiled and booped his nose. “No, Boo, I'm fine. Maybe in a few weeks we might have to take shorter walks and eventually we might have to take a break from them all together, but for now, I'm fine. I promise.”

Louis stood up and offered his hand to his mom. She stood up without his help and then threaded their fingers together once she was standing. 

“Love you, Ma, drive safe,” Louis warned as he reached into the back seat for his skateboard. 

“Love you, too, Louis. I'm always careful, you know that.” She shook her head and waved him away. He dropped his skateboard and pushed off with a wave to his mom. She blew him a kiss and drove away. 

Louis skated home and thought about his mom's news. Siblings! How exciting! As he skated, his thoughts turned to Harry. Would he call? Would it be too much to hope he called today? Was it too soon? He was never good with dating rules. So he distracted himself with thoughts of Harry's eyes, his smile, his lips, his dark, wavy hair, his thighs… He was home before he knew it. 

He ran up the stairs to his apartment. He'd worked up a sweat walking with his mom and desperately needed a shower. Louis yanked off his clothes, stepped into the shower and pulled the curtain closed. He squeezed some shampoo into his hand and started washing his hair, still thinking of Harry. 

Harry. Harry. Harry. He was just so hot. His thighs in those jeans, his bum when he'd leaned in to buckle up his lamp, his mouth… Louis’ cock twitched. Louis ran a hand down his stomach and traced a circle around the base of his cock. He scratched his fingernails through his pubic hair. He cupped his balls with one hand and rolled them back and forth a few times, with his other hand he grabbed himself and tugged his foreskin back a little. He teased himself while he washed, then turned into the water spray and rinsed the soap away. 

He stepped closer to the wall and braced himself with his left hand. With his right, he began to slowly wank himself. He had time; didn't have plans for a few hours. After he'd come close and backed off a few times, he started again with a firm grip and a steady pace. Soon he was panting and biting his knuckle to stifle his moans. 

He imagined Harry in the shower with him, his chest to Louis’ back, his large hands covering Louis’ smaller hands, wanking him hard and fast. He imagined Harry on his knees, with his gorgeous mouth open wide, his lips swollen and red and wrapped tightly around Louis’ cock. He imagined him sucking the head, then taking him deep, over and over again, before circling the head with his tongue, and licking his slit. It was like a video clip on repeat in his mind, and the fantasy was so vivid. 

He pictured Harry bent over in front of him, right there in his shower, and he saw himself fucking into Harry's tight, perfect ass and that was it. Louis came with a grunt and a whine. It splattered on the tile wall and washed away in the spray of the shower. He leaned forward and rested his head on the cool tile. 

He really hoped Harry would call today. He finished his shower, dried off, walked into his bedroom and flopped on his bed completely naked. He rolled himself up in his sheets and fell back asleep. 

Louis woke up from his nap, rolled over and reached for his phone. Only 11:00AM, just in time for brunch. He got out of bed and pulled his favorite black skinny jeans out of his dresser. Harry wouldn't have been able to resist if he had worn them yesterday. He grabbed a t-shirt from his drawer and tugged it over his head. Shit. His hair was insane from going to sleep while it was wet. He pulled on his blue beanie and went looking for Liam. 

“Lima Bean! Brunch!” Louis yelled from his bedroom doorway. He slipped on his Vans and stepped into the bathroom to brush his teeth. 

The two boys walked to the bakery where they always had Sunday brunch. It was down the road from their apartment. The place was small and served a different brunch menu every weekend. 

They made their way inside and waved to the owner. Julia waved back from behind the counter, “Hi, boys! Your regular drinks?” She pointed to the chalkboard beside the door. “We've got four things on the brunch menu today.” They thanked her as they turned to read it. 

After they ate, they stopped at the counter to buy some muffins for the next week’s breakfasts and to thank Julia for the meal. They slowly made their way back home. Both boys had eaten their fill and still had food leftover to bring home. 

“I don't know how any of this will taste after we reheat it, but my chicken and waffles were too good to leave behind.” Louis heaved a sigh. It was around one o'clock and Harry hadn't called yet. 

“My bananas foster French toast was delicious, man. And Julia always does good bacon.” Liam paused and then added, “I'll eat it cold later, I don't care.”

They trudged up the stairs to their apartment, made their way inside, shoved their leftovers in the fridge, put the muffins in the bread basket, and plopped their bums on the couch to have another go at Minecraft. 

They'd been playing for a while when Louis phone lit up and rang with a call from an unknown number. He jumped up off the couch, snatched up his phone and ran for his bedroom. He could hear Liam teasing from behind his closed door. “Could you please help me with my lamp, sir, I don't know how to turn it on, sir!”

________________________________

 

Harry listened to Louis’ phone ring once, twice, three times and then he heard a bright, “Hello?”

“This is Harry Styles. I bought a lamp yesterday and I need someone to help me with it.” 

A loud guffaw came through the line and then Louis replied, “Yes, I can help you with your lamp, Harry.”

They both started giggling at that and any worry that their conversation would be uncomfortable went out the window. They chatted for a little while about their Sundays and, finally, Harry asked when Louis could help him with his lamp. Louis chuckled again and answered, “I'm free today, actually. I realize that's short notice.”

Harry could hear the hopefulness in Louis’ voice and it sent a little bubble of happiness bouncing around in his stomach. “I'm free today, Louis, in fact I'm free for the rest of the day. I could, um, cook dinner? Would you want to come to my house? Is that weird? I'm sorry… I feel slightly awkward. I'm not very good with dating rules.” Oh my god! Dating! Alert! Alert! Harry hurried to correct himself, “Shit. Sorry. Not that it's a date. You're just helping with my lamp. I'm offering you dinner—”

Louis interjected quickly, “Harry! It's alright if you call it a date. I'd like it to be. I, um, I'm not good with dating rules either. I mean, I'd like to eat dinner with you and hang out. Um, unless...do you really need help with your lamp?”

“Nope. No, I don't actually need any help with my lamp. Thank you though. I'll, um, I'll text you my address.” Harry was so relieved and happy. A date. With Louis. No lamps involved. They said their goodbyes and Harry threw himself face first onto his bed.


	3. The First Date

Harry ran out of his room and banged on Niall's door while hysterically calling for his roommate, “Niall!”

“I'm out here, quit bangin’!” came an amused yell from the front of the house. “You need me to help you with your lamp?”

Harry walked into the living room to find Niall lounging on the couch and watching Friends reruns. “Fuck off, Ni, no! I, um, I need you to clear out tonight, please.” 

“Well, well, well… look at you getting your lamp fixed on the first date? Is that what the kids are calling it these days? Monica and Chandler are calling it laundry.” He gestured at the television. 

“Is this The One Where They All Find Out? I love this one. Scoot over. Phoebe is hilarious.” Harry joined Niall on the couch to watch Phoebe and Chandler attempt to fake seduce each other. By the time Chandler placed his hand on Phoebe’s shoulder, they were in tears from laughing so hard. 

As soon as the episode ended, Harry poked Niall in the ribs and reminded him, “You know I'm not… I'm not doing laundry or fixing lamps or anything on the first date, but he is coming over. I'm making dinner. Do you think he's going to expect sex?”

“Nah, I mean, can't imagine he'd turn it down, but I don't think he'll expect anything. What's the plan? You're cookin’? I'll be elsewhere tonight if you'll make extra for me.” Niall bargained particularly hard when it came to food. 

“Nothing fancy, thought I'd make that enchilada casserole that you like. Should be plenty of leftovers.” Harry had come prepared to bargain with his roommate.

“Sweet! Yeah, Mom asked me to come help her do some work around her house, so I'll just stay out there tonight. I was planning on it anyway,” Niall teased. 

Harry reached over to pinch his nipple and Niall yelped. “I'm not even mad, man. Give your mom a hug from me.”

“‘Course, now go freak out about your clothes or the state of our floors or something. I gotta go clean gutters and trim hedges and shit.” Niall wiggled his feet into his shoes, grabbed his keys and wallet and walked out the door. He was back thirty seconds later to get his laundry hamper. “Ma said she’d wash my clothes while I do all the heavy work.” And he was gone again.

Harry pushed himself up off the couch and looked down at the floor. Yep. He needed to clean them. His mom always said that if you're having company over, make sure you clean the bathroom and the floor. He made quick work in the kitchen, washed the few dishes that had accumulated in the sink, double checked that he had enough wine from Free Wine Saturday and that he had all of the ingredients he'd need for the casserole. There was some vanilla ice cream in the freezer. Sweet. He was all set to finish up a few other chores before he threw together the casserole.

Harry was nervous. It was almost 6. He was obsessively going over his mental checklist of things to do before a date. He was dressed in a barely buttoned Hawaiian shirt that was patterned in blue waves and green palm trees, his favorite black skinny jeans with the holes in the knees, and no shoes. He’d brushed his teeth, put on deodorant, sprayed a little of his favorite Chanel Bleu cologne on his neck. His hair was, well, it was his hair. He hadn’t adjusted to the much shorter hairstyle that he’d gotten after he’d donated his long hair. He looked in the mirror and turned his head side to side. His hair looked pretty good, maybe it was settling down now that it had been a few weeks since the cut. His chocolate curls were gone, the sides and back of his hair were shorter than he could ever remember them being, the top of his hair was longer, but slightly wavy without enough length to curl up. 

He lit his favorite vanilla candle and placed it on the side of the sink, winked at himself in the mirror and laughed before turning off the light and heading for the kitchen to check the casserole.

Harry had just set the dish on the stovetop and switched off the oven when he heard the old doorbell chime.

________________________________

Louis flung open his bedroom door and gave a whoop that echoed in their little apartment. “Li! I have a date! Harry! He’s cooking me dinner! Help me! Ahhhhhhhhh!”

Liam was lying on the floor in front of the television, resting between sets of push ups. He panted, “Date? Not helping with his lamp?”

“Ha ha, very funny. Nah, we joked about it though. We talked for a while and we laughed quite a bit. He’s making dinner at his place. Says he has plenty of wine. I was thinking of bringing flowers? ”

“Not much open in town on Sundays, but the Piggly Wiggly. They have flowers, I think. You sound smitten.” How Liam managed to talk while doing alternating one arm push ups was beyond Louis’ comprehension.

“Yeah, the pig has flowers, I’ll skate by on my way to Harry’s and pick some up. He actually doesn’t live far. It’s weird that I’ve never seen him, yeah? I think he goes to the university. He mentioned school and work, so maybe he’s just really busy and doesn’t go out much.”

“Could be. Dunno. You don’t really go out either. You work all the time. I keep telling you to close the store on Mondays. Plus, how many 24 year olds do you know who get up at ass o’clock in the morning every single Saturday to go to yard sales? The answer to that question is none, Louis. ”

“Yeah, yeah.” Louis grumbled and made his way to the kitchen sink. He turned on the water and ducked his head so he could wet his out of control hair.

“I’ll never understand why you don’t just get in the shower, man.” Liam shook his head and rolled over to start doing his crunches. 

“Already showered this morning, just need to tame this nest on my head.” Louis responded as if that was a reason to stick your head in the sink. He snatched a paper towel off the roll and used it to dry his hair.

“You are a very special person, Louis,” Liam chuckled from his spot on the floor, “Really.”

Louis flipped him the bird as he walked towards the bathroom to finish his hair. He had a few hours before he was supposed to be at Harry’s, so he took his time. He had some work to do anyway, so before he got dressed, he sat down with the local newspaper’s classified section. So many people still advertised yard sales and estate sales in the paper, maybe it was because they tended to be an older crowd, but Louis liked it. He’d spread the paper on his bed and circle the sales he planned to attend with his red pen. Once he’d gone through the paper, he’d check Craigslist, then make a list of the addresses and specific items he was interested in buying for his shop. 

Louis decided to wear the black jeans he already had on, but changed his shirt to his favorite red scoop neck t-shirt. He pulled on a pair of striped socks, slipped on his checkered Vans, checked his pockets for his wallet and phone, pushed his glasses up where they'd slipped down his nose, tucked his board under his arm, waved goodbye to Liam, and took off for the pig. It was about 5:30, which gave him plenty of time to skate down to the pig and pick up some flowers, then skate back up to Harry’s by six.

________________

Louis rounded the corner and realized that Harry lived in a house, not an apartment. Cool. There were a lot of older homes in the area for rent, but he and Liam had decided that they weren’t interested in keeping grass cut or hedges trimmed, so an apartment was what worked best for them. He climbed the stairs and peeked through the window of the front door. He leaned his board against the porch railing and looked around. It would probably be fine to leave it there. He started to knock on the window, but then noticed a small knob in the center of the door. It was an old fashioned doorbell. He turned it and heard the chime ring out from other side of the door. Louis closed his eyes, took a deep breath to calm himself, brushed his hair off of his forehead, and opened his eyes just in time to see Harry swing open the door.

“Hiiiiiiiii, Louis.” Harry beamed at him from the doorway, then squeaked, “Flowers!” He stepped aside, cleared his throat and said, “Come on in,” with a sweeping gesture. Louis followed the path of his hand and giggled. Harry’s face fell, but when he looked at his hand he realized that he was still wearing his lobster oven mitt, “Oops!” he yanked it off and held it behind his back.

“Hey, I like your lobster.” Louis grinned and took a step inside the house. Harry leaned over slightly to push the door closed and Louis inhaled. Damn, he smelled good. Wait. He smelled food, too, a familiar smell. “Dinner smells good! What is it?”

“Oh, um, it’s Niall’s… that’s my roommate, it’s his favorite, enchilada casserole. I made it so he’d leave…” Harry stopped suddenly when he realized what he’d said. His eyes went wide and a blush started to creep up his neck, “I mean, I made extra for him. He went to help his mom do some work, um, he won’t be home tonight, so we can, um, eat in peace. You wanna follow me?” 

Harry led the way through the hallway and into the kitchen. The kitchen was full of a strange combination of things - vintage aprons hung on the wall, while heavy ceramic baking dishes, antique pyrex, Fiesta Ware, cheap plastic cups, and cheap souvenir coffee mugs lined the lower shelves. He reached onto a high ledge to pick a milk glass vase, “I’ll just put those in some water,” he pointed to the flowers in Louis’ hand and Louis handed them over. Harry quickly arranged the flowers and picked up the vase. “This way!” He turned and walked out of the kitchen. 

“My mom makes enchilada casserole. I thought something smelled familiar. Um, your house is nice.” he followed Harry through a doorway. “Oh, an actual dining room, wow. My apartment has a dining area, but we use it to keep our bikes and Liam’s weights and stuff. We just eat at the bar. This is really cool, I like your table.” Louis felt like every time he opened his mouth, compliments poured out, but it seemed to make Harry happy, so he wasn’t embarrassed. Harry set the flower vase on the table and turned around. 

“Thanks, Lou, um, I mean, Louis, thanks,” Harry stammered.

“That’s alright, you can call me Lou.” Louis reassured him with a smile that he knew made his eyes crinkle. “I like it.”

Harry pulled the cork from an open bottle of wine and offered some to Louis. Harry poured the wine and told Louis to have a seat while he served their meal. They ate leisurely, taking turns talking about their respective jobs, friends, and families. Louis told Harry about his mom’s pregnancy news and Harry lit up like a Christmas tree. He seemed almost as excited as Louis was at the prospect of baby twins. Harry had a lot of questions about Louis’ shop and Louis answered every one in detail. He told Harry about his grandma, how he’d grown up living with her and his mom, spent his childhood crawling around on the floor of the shop, and worked there helping his grandma until she was too old to work anymore. He relayed the story of the shop’s origin, the same way his grandma would tell him when he was a kid, how his grandpa had bought the little building for his grandma and named it after her - ‘Rose’s Antiques and Collectibles’ - and how he’d kept the name for a few months after she died and left him the store, but that answering the phone and saying his grandma’s name like that bothered him, so he changed it. He’d named it after the song because it reminded him of his grandparents. Louis talked about his crazy Saturday mornings and laughed when Harry said they sounded like fun and asked if anyone ever went with him.

Harry stood up to gather their dirty dishes. Louis followed him to the kitchen, offering to clean up since Harry had gone to the trouble to cook, but Harry just shook his head and slid the plates into the sink full of soapy water and wiped his hands on a dish towel.

“Would you like ice cream? I’m too full, I think, at least right now,” Harry offered with a nod toward the freezer.

“Nah, I don’t have room for anything else. Dinner was so good. Thank you so much for cooking,” Louis quietly replied, “Um, I wouldn’t say no to another glass, I mean, another mug of wine.”

Harry gave him a brilliant smile and said, “We can move to the porch, if that’s alright. We have a swing and a table and chairs out there.”

Louis readily agreed. They picked up their mugs and Harry grabbed another open bottle of wine. As Harry led him onto the porch and toward the little black metal table, Louis took a moment to look around the porch and yard. He liked living in his apartment with Liam, but one day he’d like to have a house with grass out front and a fenced in yard in the back. Harry pulled out a cushioned chair and gestured for Louis to have a seat. 

They sat on the porch and talked for hours. Harry told Louis about his plans after graduation to get a job in the local school system as a librarian before continuing his education in a masters program. They both seemed so comfortable and at ease with each other. Louis hadn’t been this happy on a date in years. He wanted another one. He knew that soon he'd have to say goodnight to Harry, after all he had to be at the shop in the morning and Harry had class. Would it be strange to ask to see him the following night? Do people date on Mondays? Ugh. More dating rules. But, wait, Harry had said he wasn't much for dating rules either. So...Maybe?

Louis set his mug down and brought a hand to his mouth to cover a yawn. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. It was getting late; he had work in the morning and he had to skate home. He didn't want to say goodnight to Harry though. A small sigh escaped his mouth as he sat forward and opened his eyes to find Harry looking at him with a curious expression. 

“Lou?” Harry started, “Um, it's late and don't think I didn't catch that yawn.”

Louis jumped up. Shit. He'd overstayed his welcome. He stammered out an apology, but before he could finish, Harry stood up and interrupted. “Don't. I'm not sorry you're still here. I know you've got work and I've got school and, well, before you leave… um, I was wondering if you had plans for tomorrow evening.”

Louis stuck his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels, the corner of his mouth lifted in a half smile and he murmured, “I don't have plans.”

Harry took a step closer and reached out to brush the back of his knuckles down Louis’ outer arm. He gazed into Louis’ eyes and whispered, “Would you like to? Have plans? We could go down to the river walk.”

“Yeah, yeah, I'd like that.” Louis replied softly as his eyes traveled around Harry's hopeful face. He leaned forward and looked from Harry's brilliant green eyes to his mouth and back. They met in the middle with a soft press of lips. Louis sighed and reached for Harry's waist with one hand, while the other slowly traveled up Harry's arm, over his shoulder and around the back of his neck to lightly scratch the short hair on the back of his head. One of Harry's arms snaked around louis’ waist to press gently into his lower back and the other curled around his shoulder. 

They shared a few minutes of slow, tender kisses before Harry pulled back, rested his forehead against Louis’, and asked, “Are you going to be alright to skate home? It's late. I can drive you.”

Louis tilted his head up for another quick kiss and said, “You're so sweet. I'll be fine. Know this town like the back of my hand. I'll, um… I'll text you when I get home to let you know I'm okay.” 

Harry's smile was so big that Louis wanted to reach up and poke his dimple, so he did. 

“See ya, Dimples,” Louis teased. He picked up his board from its spot against the porch railing and turned to go. 

“Bye, Lou.”

________________________________

Harry watched Louis skate down the street and around the corner out of sight before picking up the empty bottle of wine and mugs. He wanted to make sure the kitchen was clean and go to bed. The weekend had been unexpectedly fun, he'd have to thank Niall for breaking his lamp. 

Harry hurried to wrap up the leftovers, wash the dishes, toss the empties in the recycling bin, and organize his school stuff for the following morning. He brushed his teeth, then took off his clothes and slipped into bed with a book. He turned on his new lamp with a grin and settled back into his pillows to read a few chapters of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. A few minutes later, Harry realized that he'd read the same line about Zaphod Beeblebrox at least four times and he decided to give up for the night. Just as he placed the book on his bedside table and reached up to turn off his lamp, his phone lit up with a message from Louis. 

**I'm home. Safe and sound. Thanks again for dinner, it was lovely and so was the company :)**

Wow. Harry was a little overwhelmed. Louis was so kind and sweet. Oh, and his kisses… his lips were so soft and he tasted so good. How was that even possible after so much wine and enchilada casserole? He was unreal. 

_I'm glad you made it home. You're welcome for dinner. I had a wonderful time with you. I can't wait to see you again._

**Me too. I close the shop at 5 do you want to meet at the riverwalk at 530?**

_Yeah. Sounds perfect. See you then. Good night, Lou._

**Sweet dreams, Harry.**

Harry plugged his phone in and rolled over to snuggle his pillow. He'd have plenty of time after class to go to the library and study before he had to meet Louis at 5:30. 

________________________________

Louis slept until 7:30 Monday morning. He could see the sunlight from behind his eyelids, so he rolled away from the window and cracked open one eye so he could search for his phone. He unlocked it to find a new text from Harry. 

_Good morning, sunshine. Just thought I'd say hello before I start my day. See you later._

Louis covered his face with a pillow and let out a loud groan. He was falling for this boy and he'd only known him for two days. 

Louis got out of bed, shuffled to the kitchen to make tea, then back to the bathroom to shower and finish waking up. Maybe he should make tea showers a thing. He wasn't sure if there was enough room for a teacup next to his shampoo. 

After his shower he got ready to go and was halfway to the door when he stopped, turned around and went back to his room. He wanted to be prepared for his date with Harry. He dug around in the bottom of his closet until he found a small backpack, rifled through his dresser drawers until he found his favorite Joy Division t-shirt, sniffed it and then sprayed it with his cologne, refolded it and packed it in the bag. He put his vans in the bag as well and then hesitated by his bedside table. He'd just met Harry and they'd only kissed last night, but… better safe than sorry. He stashed a couple of condoms and a a few travel packets of lube in the front pocket of his bag, slung it over his shoulder, and hurried out the door and down the stairs. 

As he rode to the shop, he looked around and took it all in. He loved his little town. He waved at the old ladies out working in their gardens, he waved at Julia as he rode past the bakery and as he got close enough to see his shop, he got that same bubbly feeling in his belly that happened every time he saw it. Contentment? Maybe. He just felt at peace and at home. 

Louis turned on all of the lights, checked the register, pulled the cash drawer out of the safe, and went about his usual Monday morning duties. He stopped around 10am to make a cup of tea and realized that, while Harry had been on his mind all morning, he'd never replied to his text. He quickly typed out a response and sent it off. 

**Hey. Meant to text earlier, but got caught up with work. I hope you're having a good morning at school. See ya tonight :)**


	4. The Second Date

Harry yawned for the fifth time in half an hour and decided he needed to stop on the way to the river walk for a coffee. He sent a quick text to Louis. 

_Hey, I'm swinging by Julia's for a coffee. Want one?_

Louis was fast to respond since it was after five. He'd just changed out of his work clothes and shoved them and his boots unceremoniously into his backpack. He was wiggling his foot into his Vans while shouldering his bag, and collecting his keys and phone. He was literally trying to do four things at once and failing miserably, so when his phone dinged with a message, he dropped everything else onto the floor and responded. 

**Yes, please and thank you. Need caffeine. Tell Julia it's for Louis. She knows what I like :)**

Louis took a deep breath, bent down to retrieve his belongings from the floor and got ready to leave. He double checked his pockets - keys, phone, wallet. He double checked himself in the mirror—clean face, beard needs trimming, oh well. He double checked his bag; dirty clothes, boots, condoms and lube. He felt a flush travel up his chest and his heart raced. He'd forgotten he'd put those in the bag. He didn't think he'd need them, but, well, he was a Boy Scout for like six months when he was in the fifth grade, so… always be prepared. Yep. He stepped out back, shoved the door closed, locked it, jumped on his board and took off for the river walk. 

\--------

Harry tossed his bag in the back of the Bronco and climbed in. The University library was a few miles from town, so he sang along to the radio, it was a new song called ‘This Town’ by some dude who used to be in a boy band or something. Harry wasn't sure about the boy band, but he liked the song. It reminded him of Louis and his obvious love for his hometown. He pulled up in front of Julia's bakery just as the song ended. 

“Julia, seashell eyes, windy smile,” Harry sang as he walked through the open door. 

“Hush, Harry. How was class? Need a caffeine fix?” Julia asked as she smiled at him from behind the counter. 

“Yes, please. The usual. School wasn't too bad today. Since midterms were a few weeks ago, things have lightened up a bit. I'm sure I won't be saying that in a few weeks when it's time for finals.”

“Too right,” Julia hummed as she heated the milk to make his caramel latte. “You want anything else? A muffin?”

“Yeah, um, I, um, do you know Louis? Tomlinson?” Harry could feel his cheeks heat up as she nodded and tilted her head. The words rushed out, “He said you'd know what he wanted.”

Julia winked and turned back around to the espresso machine. “Two caramel lattes it is.”

Harry’s eyebrows shot up and he stared at the back of Julia's head while she worked on the lattes. He wandered down the bakery case and looked at all the muffins, eclairs, cookies and other baked goods. Julia cleared her throat and Harry looked up as she presented him with two large to-go caramel lattes and a paper bag. Harry looked at the bag and back to Julia, but before he could ask, she pushed it forward and chuckled. “Chocolate croissants. On the house. All of it.”

Harry opened his mouth to argue, but she waved him off and said, “Go on! Tell Louis I said hey. I don't want to see your beautiful face again today. Bye!” and she disappeared through the swinging kitchen door, leaving Harry standing alone and slightly bewildered. He shrugged and was almost to the door when he heard her yell, “Have fun and be careful!” 

On the way to his truck, Harry noticed some dark clouds in the distance. They were calling for a small chance of thunderstorms, but by the time he pulled into the parking lot by the river walk and climbed down out of his truck, he’d forgotten about it. Harry leaned his back against the door of his truck and looked at the river. His favorite place to be and it was quiet tonight. As soon as he thought about the silence, he realized it wasn't anymore. He could hear something, but he wasn't sure what it was. It was a distant, rattling, thrum. He looked towards the road and saw Louis on his skateboard, that was the sound, and wow, he was breathtakingly beautiful. 

Harry straightened up and looked down at his clothes. He'd been so busy studying that he hadn't even checked a mirror. Okay. Brown boots, black jeans, blue tshirt. No visible stains or crumbs. He tried to catch a peek of his face and hair in the sideview mirror, but it wasn't much help. Please let him have remembered his deodorant this morning. He couldn't figure out a way to surreptitiously sniff his pits. Here he comes. Here he comes. Here he is. 

“Hi, Lou.”

“Hi.” 

Louis’ smile was wide; behind his glasses his eyes were crinkled. He was so pretty. Harry reached into his truck for the coffees and the bag of croissants. 

“Caramel latte? That's my order, too. Julia thought it was funny. She also gave me some chocolate croissants.” Harry handed over the latte.

“Mmmm…yes, thank you.” Louis hummed as he sipped his drink. 

“Shall we?” Harry raised his eyebrows and pointed to the river walk.

“Mind if I stash my bag and board in your truck while we walk?” Louis asked with a nod toward the Bronco. 

Harry opened the door, Louis put his stuff behind the driver's seat, and tried to gently close the door. Harry laughed a little at the perplexed expression on Louis’ face when the door wouldn't shut. 

“It's temperamental,” he explained as he yanked open the door, lifted it up a bit, slammed it shut, and then kicked the bottom corner with the heel of his boot. “I think it needs new hinges. Pain in the ass truck.”

Louis giggled at that and they started towards the river walk. 

Harry and Louis walked for a bit in companionable silence while they sipped their lattes. They were close, their knuckles or shoulders brushed every now and then. 

Harry caught Louis furtively peeking at Harry's profile as they walked. “Hey, so, um, how was your day? Did you get a lot of studying done?”

Harry relayed the events of his day to Louis and could barely contain his glee when he launched into describing a conversation he'd had with his advisor about his upcoming graduation and letters of recommendation for graduate school and job applications. Harry could feel Louis’ eyes on him while he talked. He finished telling him about his day and turned his head to find Louis staring at him with a peculiar expression on his face, like he’d just found something. 

“What? Do I have something on my face?” He knew he should've looked harder in that sideview mirror. 

“No, no, um, no. I just… I was just looking. At you. There's nothing on your face. I was, um, you're very lovely to look at is all,” Louis finished in a rush. 

“Oh! Um, thank you, Lou. Well...” Harry paused, looked down at his boots and mumbled, “there's nothing on your face either, and I think you're quite lovely, as well.” He looked up and met Louis eyes. “Do you want to keep walking or sit for a while in the gazebo?” 

“Hmm… Let's sit. We can eat these.” Louis shook the paper bag and walked in the direction of the gazebo. There were a few backless benches around the edges, so the boys sat down facing each other. Harry straddled the bench with his long legs and Louis sat with his legs folded. They unwrapped the croissants and set them on top of the bag. They smelled heavenly. 

“Tell me about your day, Lou,” Harry suggested with a nod and a smile. So Louis did. He'd only had one customer in the store all day and a few phone calls from people looking for specific items. Katie had called that afternoon to see if Louis had found a table for her. He hadn't and he told her so, but he asked for her patience and promised to put in a few calls to some other antique furnishings stores. He told Harry about Liam's idea to close the shop on Mondays and admitted that he wasn't as opposed to the idea as he once was. It would be nice to have two days off every week. He'd worked the same schedule for four years now, but it never really felt like work, so he'd never really considered changing anything. 

They finished their lattes and croissants and sat back to watch the river. It was incredibly peaceful that evening. There were no other people on the riverwalk and the breeze felt wonderful. All at once there was a crack of thunder and a flash of lightning and both boys nearly jumped out of their seats. 

“Shit!” They yelled simultaneously, then looked at each other and cracked up. They cackled for what felt like an hour, until Louis’ was wiping tears from his eyes and Harry had snorted twice and gotten a cramp in his side. The next thing they knew, rain started coming down in sheets so hard and fast that they couldn't see farther than a few feet past the edge of the gazebo. “Shit,” they repeated together and the laughter started all over again. 

They sat side by side and watched the storm for some time. Harry turned his head to find Louis watching him instead of the storm.

“Hey,” Harry whispered, so quiet that he could barely hear himself over the noise of the storm.

“Hey,” Louis breathed out as he leaned in to press his lips to Harry’s.

Their kisses were chaste; they were both being so careful with each other. Harry leaned back with his eyes still closed and said in a hushed voice, “I really like you, Lou.”

“Me, too. I mean, I really like you, too,” Louis murmured as he reached up to comb his fingers through Harry’s hair. He lightly scratched his scalp and then slid his hand down the back of Harry’s neck to pull him into another kiss. His other hand gripped Harry’s shoulder and then slid down his chest.

Harry slowly ran his tongue across the seam of Louis mouth, asking for permission, which was immediately granted. His hands were running up and down Louis’ sides and back, he itched to slide them lower, to take hold of that glorious bum and pull Louis onto his lap. Their kisses grew heated, their tongues chasing each other. Harry slipped his hands underneath Louis’ t-shirt to feel the skin of his back. It was so smooth and warm, Harry wanted more. He pulled Louis closer until he uncrossed his legs and threw them over Harry’s legs where they straddled the bench. Finally, Harry had Louis in his lap where he wanted him. 

He smoothed his hands down Louis’ back and onto his ass and oh my god. It was better than he’d hoped, better than his shower fantasy from the day before. He squeezed one cheek in each hand and Louis groaned into his mouth. Harry kissed him with more fervor, he wanted to be in him, a part of him, he wanted Louis to swallow him or he could swallow Louis, it didn’t matter which, he wanted more. 

He could feel Louis’ hard cock where it was pressed against his stomach. Harry squeezed his ass again and pulled him even closer. Harry was rock hard and his dick was trapped in his jeans. He wanted to make his jeans disappear. He needed to be naked, for Louis to be naked, they needed to fuck, like, now. Harry moaned as he thrust his trapped cock up into the denim covering Louis’ ass. 

Louis pulled away from Harry’s mouth and made his way across his face, kissing his cheekbones, then his jaw line, and back toward his ear. He licked his way down the side of Harry’s neck until he reached his pulse point and started to nibble and suck. Harry leaned his head back and groaned. 

The lightning flashed and the thunder cracked and the boys jumped apart panting.

“Fuck!” Harry cried out, then clapped his hands over his mouth and looked around. “Oh, look, the rain is letting up.”

Louis’ stared at Harry. His hair was a mess, his lips were swollen, his shirt was twisted and rucked up on one side, and his eyes were dark behind his glasses that were askew and fogged up. 

“We ought to make a break for it while we can, Lou. I’ll drive you home,” Harry suggested, still trying to catch his breath.

“Yeah, okay, yeah. Let’s go.” Louis agreed, they stood up and started to walk back toward the parking lot. Both boys were wearing smiles and walking carefully due to the respective situations in their pants. It was a half mile back to the truck and they were about two-thirds of the way through it when the rain began to fall again. It started as a drizzle and the boys laughed, but within two minutes it was coming down just as hard as it had during what they'd thought was the worst part of the storm. They exchanged glances and started to run. It didn’t take them long to get there, but by the time they did, they were soaked to the bone. Harry let go of Louis’ hand and ran around to the back of his truck, flung open the back and jumped in, Louis was right behind him pulling the tailgate closed.

“You’re shivering. You must be freezing. I think I have a towel in here, hold on.” Harry started to dig under his seats to check.

“You’re cold, too, Harry. One towel isn’t going to cut it. Let’s just go home.” Louis reached over and wiped a few raindrops from Harry’s cheek. 

Harry stuck out his bottom lip and pouted, but he knew Louis was right. He’d resigned himself to the idea that nothing else would happen tonight. He’d loved kissing Louis and getting to touch him all over. It had been amazing, but now he was cold and wet and his erection was long gone. They crawled over the seats into the front of the truck, Harry started it up, and drove slowly up the road. It turned out that Louis lived less than a half mile away from Harry’s house. Harry drove without incident; the Bronco was big enough to drive through the rain run-off. It was only a few minutes until Harry was pulling into the shared driveway of Louis’ apartment. 

Harry reached over the back of his seat and grabbed Louis’ bag and board and handed them to him. Then he brushed Louis’ wet hair off of his forehead. “Go on in and get dry. I’ll see ya soon, okay?”

“Yeah, um, text me when you get home?” Louis asked in a whisper. Harry nodded as Louis wiped a rain drop off of Harry’s cheek with his thumb, cupped his cheek in his hand and leaned in for a short kiss. He pulled back and reached for the door handle. “Not temperamental?”

“Nope, just the driver door.” Harry grinned. “Bye, Lou.”

“Bye, Harry,” Louis said as he climbed out of the truck. He shut the truck door and jogged across the yard, up the steps and into his apartment.

___________

Harry parked the Bronco on the street in front of their house, climbed across the center console and out the passenger door. It was still raining, but not nearly as hard, so he didn’t rush up the sidewalk and front porch steps; he was already soaked. He opened the door, stepped inside, and immediately shivered. 

“Ni? You home?” Harry shouted down the hallway as he dropped his keys in the bowl by the door. He walked, pulling his wet shirt over his head, in the direction of the bathroom.

A loud humming noise came from the kitchen.

Harry stuck his head though the kitchen doorway to find Niall standing by the fridge, with the casserole dish in one hand, spoon in the other, mouth full to bursting, attempting to chew without spitting any food onto the floor.

Harry laughed as he backed into the bathroom. “Nice, man, I’m showering. I’m fucking freezing my balls off.” He closed the door, tossed his shirt in the sink, started the shower and emptied his pockets. He shimmied and pulled his wet boots, socks, jeans, and underwear off. He put his clothes on top of his shirt in the sink so they wouldn’t make a puddle on the floor and kicked his boots into the corner. He sighed and picked up his phone to let Louis know he’d made it home.

_Home. Wet. Miserable. Showering._

He pulled the curtain back and climbed in. The water was hot, probably too hot, but Harry didn’t plan to linger. He didn’t wash his hair because it didn’t need it, his body was pretty clean because he hadn’t done much all day to get dirty, so he soaped up quickly and rinsed off, then stood there for a moment to warm up. He turned off the water and grabbed a towel. He dried off, wrapped the towel around his waist, and hung his wet clothes over the shower rod. They were still dripping, so he unwrapped his towel and spread it on the floor under his clothes to catch the drips. He picked up his shoes and phone and left the bathroom. 

Harry set his shoes on top of one of the floor vents in his room, pulled back his blankets and slid into bed naked. He reached up and turned his lamp off. It wasn’t even ten o’clock yet, but he was tired. His phone chimed and lit up with a text message and Harry picked it up. 

**Don’t be miserable :) I had fun tonight even tho we got rained on**

Before Harry could begin to type out a response, another text came through. 

**I showered too. Thought of you the whole time ;) sweet dreams, Harry**

Harry’s cock twitched as he imagined Louis wanking to thoughts of him. He wanted to know what he thought about, what were his fantasies? What did Louis want to do to him? What did he want done to him? He laid there in the dark with his mind going in a million directions. He was almost paralyzed with want. His hand was lying flat on his stomach, so he started to slowly rub circles around his chest and belly. He stroked his nipples with his thumb, first the left, then the right. His dick was fully hard now and aching. He had to. He needed to know. He unlocked his phone and sent a text to Louis. 

_What did you think about me while you were in the shower?_

Harry continued to stroke his nipples and then dropped his phone onto his pillow next to his head. He smoothed his hand down his belly, wrapped it around his cock and squeezed. His phone chimed. Harry scrambled to get it unlocked and opened the text from Louis. 

**Call me**

Harry immediately hit the button and the phone began to ring. 

Louis answered before the first ring finished. “Harry” His voice was lower than usual and almost sounded like a purr. 

“Lou,” Harry whimpered and then sighed. 

“Want to know what I thought about in the shower?” Louis asked. Harry was in love with his voice. Damn. 

“Yeah, I, um, I've never…” Harry stammered. He could feel his chest flush, his hand rested on it and the heat was noticeable. 

“I haven't either. Feels better knowing we're both phone sex virgins,” Louis joked. 

“Yeah, I do. I do want to know what you thought. Please, Louis,” Harry begged, his voice going higher the longer he talked. 

“Are you naked, Harry?”

“Y-y-yes, um, are you?” 

He heard a rustling sound and then, “Am now. I'm going to just barrel on here. If I keep talking, I'm less likely to get embarrassed.”

Harry giggled. “Okay, Lou, tell me.”

Louise spoke slowly, carefully, like he was imagining it all over again. “I thought about us kissing tonight on that bench, only we were naked. I was sitting on your lap just like earlier. My arms were around your neck and you were so warm. Your hands rubbed my shoulders and then lightly stroked my back and my ribs. I started kissing your neck and you slowly ran your hands down to the curve of my lower back. You were teasing me, tracing shapes along the top of my ass, then your big hands slid down and took my ass and squeezed…”

Harry let out a broken moan. He'd been steadily stroking himself, slowly bringing himself closer. Louis’ voice was magical. 

“Yeah? Okay, um… you squeezed my ass and ran your fingers up and down my crack. They were magically lubed because this was a wank fantasy. You rubbed one finger in circles around my hole. It felt so good, I was so hard, Harry. You slowly slid that finger inside me and I rocked back onto it. It was so hot. I came so hard.”

Harry gasped. He pictured Louis wanking in his shower, imagining Harry’s fingers, unable to control himself, and coming before he was ready, all over the tile... “Yeah, Lou, so hot, tell me,” Harry panted. 

“Shit, yeah, um, I'm going to have to get creative here because that's when I came.  
You, um, your finger was perfect. They're so long, I know they'll feel perfect inside me. I fingered myself in the shower, Harry, thinking about you. Wishing they were your fingers. Want your fingers, want your hands, your tongue, your teeth, your mouth, want your cock so bad. I bet it's big. It felt big when I was rubbing my ass on it tonight. Do you want that? Want to fuck me, Harry? I'd be so good for you, so tight, hot… I want you to fuck me, Harry. I wanna fuck you, too. I want everything. Want…”

“Lou!” Harry groaned and came with a muffled grunt. 

Louis was quiet for a moment and then he cleared his throat, “Um, Harry?”

“That was amazing, Lou, kind of feel like I need another shower now though,” Harry chuckled. 

“Oh, um, I'm glad I, um…” Louis sounded unsure. 

“Lou? Are you okay?” Harry asked as he fumbled through his bedside table for some wet wipes. 

“Yeah, sorry, I was, uh, starting to get embarrassed there, but I think I'm okay now.” 

“I'm the one who just came all over themselves just from your voice. That was the hottest thing ever. Seriously.”

“Okay, well, okay, you're right. It was hot. I liked talking you off like that. I've never, well, I was thinking we'd move kinda slow and, well, that doesn't seem to be happening, does it?”

“No, um, yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Can I be completely honest with you?”

“Yes, of course. Always.”

“I am, well, I'm just going to say this and you hang up if you want to. I feel a connection with you. I like you so much. We seem to have a lot in common and, like I said the other day, I'm no good at all the dating rules. I, um, I like you a lot and I want to date you a lot, like, often. Okay. I'm done. You can hang up now.”

“You're so cute. I'm not hanging up. I like you, Harry, a lot. If I could remember everything you just said I'd repeat it back to you. I, um, I feel the same way about dating rules. I screw them up. I don't want to worry if it's too soon to text or whatever. I want to date you. I want to, um…” he stopped and took a deep breath, but didn’t continue.

“What, Lou? You want to what?” Harry asked after he realized that Louis wasn’t planning to continue his sentence.

“Iwanttobeyourboyfriend,” he rushed out. 

It took Harry a few seconds to work out what Louis had said, but as soon as he interpreted his babble, he delightedly said, “Yes, I'd like that, Lou. I'd like to be your boyfriend and I'd like for you to be mine, please.”

“Of course, Harry, yeah,” Louis happily sighed, then he yawned. “This conversation went in a different direction than I expected there at the end.” Louis giggled.

“Yeah, it did,” Harry agreed. “Go to sleep, Lou. I'll text you in the morning. Sweet dreams.”

“Alright, if you insist. I'll go to sleep. Do me a favor? Thank your roommate for breaking your old lamp. Sleep well, Harry.”

Harry giggled. “I'll tell him. ‘Night, Lou.”


	5. Meet The Friends

The rest of the week was incredibly busy for Harry. He was scheduled to work every night, had class every day, and spent any free time in between in the library. After running late for work because he’d gotten caught up in a discussion group, he’d started wearing his work clothes to class and driving straight to the restaurant after school. He and Louis hadn’t seen each other since the night of the storm (and the phone sex), and while they’d been texting frequently, both boys were anxious to be in each other’s presence. 

Niall had actually set his alarm and gotten up early one morning just to ask Harry about his date and wheedle information out of him. He teased Harry mercilessly about his new boyfriend all evening during their shift, but Harry just smiled at him and stuck out his tongue every single time. Lu was back at work that night, and Harry was glad to see her; he’d missed her. Tuesdays and Wednesdays were the slowest nights for Bistro33, so Amanda let Harry bring school work with him. As long as his tables were happy and his side work was done, he was allowed to sit at the bar and study. Lu helped him as much as she could by running his food and checking on his tables. The restaurant emptied out by 9pm, so Niall and Harry were on their walk home by 9:30. After a quick shower, and a few texts with Louis, Harry passed out with a textbook open on his chest.

Wednesday went in much the same way, except that it rained again, so the restaurant was practically empty all evening, and Nic was training behind the bar with Niall. Amanda insisted that the front of the house employees were trained to do all of the front of the house jobs. It was a slow night, so Amanda sent Harry home at 8pm. 

By Friday, Harry was exhausted. He knew his classes were going to be more difficult the closer he got to graduation, but it seemed as if all of his professors had woken up Tuesday morning with the realization that the semester was ending soon and they needed to cram more in. 

Of course, when he checked his syllabuses, he saw that everything was there in black and white, he should’ve known it was coming, but it was still overwhelming. Harry hadn’t spoken to Louis since Wednesday night when he’d called him during his walk home. They chatted for a few minutes and talked about maybe doing something on the weekend, but Harry knew that Louis had to get up at 5am on Saturday and that they’d probably just chat on the phone a bit before bed Friday night. Maybe they'd find time on Saturday to get together. Harry wanted to meet Liam and he wanted Louis to meet Niall, and they tossed around the idea of Louis bringing Liam to the restaurant one night, but didn’t make any concrete plans. 

On Friday, Harry left the library with enough time to drive home and walk into work with Niall. Fridays at the restaurant were crazy. The place was always packed and Amanda’s complicated reservation schedules were the only thing that made busy nights go smoothly. Nic, Lu, and Harry made a good team, and of course Niall was the best behind the bar. By the time the kitchen closed at 9:30pm, they were all sweaty, tired, and in need of a drink. They did their side work while the last table finished their meal and by 10:15 they were putting up the chairs and turning off the lights. 

Harry double checked the kitchen to make sure that the ovens and the eyes on the stovetop were all turned off, locked the back door, ran his nightly report, and headed for the bar to have a drink. As he pushed open the swinging kitchen doors, he heard laughter and a voice that he didn’t recognize coming from the bar and he sighed. Sometimes regular customers would come in after they’d closed, expecting a drink or dessert and sometimes Amanda was too nice to tell them no. Harry just wanted to have a drink and go home. Maybe Louis would still be awake and they could talk on the phone for a few minutes before he had to go to sleep. Harry rounded the corner into the bar and stopped short.

“Harry! These gentlemen said they wanted to have a drink with you!” Niall announced from his spot behind the bar, gesturing to the two men sitting in front of him. “I believe you know this one,” Niall pointed at Louis with a beer, “but I don’t think you’ve met this one,” and he pointed his other hand at the man sitting on the next stool. He handed Harry the beer.

“Hi,” Harry said as he took the bottle from Niall, he was a little out of breath, so he coughed and tried again. “Hi.” Louis wasn’t wearing his glasses and Harry couldn’t pull his eyes away.

Louis turned on his stool, smiled and reached for Harry. “Harry, this is Liam. He, um, kind of insisted that we come up here for a drink. Said he was coming with or without me, so…” Louis shrugged. “Here we are. Hope that’s okay.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s okay. Um, nice to meet you, Liam.” Harry used his professional server voice and he stuck out his hand.

“Nice to finally meet ya, man,” Liam replied as he grasped Harry’s hand and shook it. “This one’s been talkin’ non-stop…” 

Louis elbowed him in the ribs and Liam howled. “That hurt, you asshole! Just for that, I’m not buying your drink and I’m not sitting with you.” Liam slid his drink over one spot and moved down to the next stool. “Harry, sit there at your own risk, his elbows are pointy.”

Harry climbed onto the stool and tossed his apron and collection of pens onto the bar in a heap. He turned to look at Louis and silently mouthed the word, “Hi.” Louis smiled and gave him a quick kiss. 

“How was work tonight?” Louis asked with a nod to the pile of money and receipts. “Niall said you guys were busy.”

Harry straightened out his money. “We were slammed tonight, it was crazy, but not too bad. Had fun anyway,” he finished with a smile. 

Louis watched Harry count his money and set aside a twenty dollar bill. The rest he folded up and stuck in his wallet, then he balled up the twenty and hurled it at Niall’s head. Louis laughed and looked back and forth between them in confusion.

“Gotta tip out the bar,” Harry remarked with a wink and a grin before taking a long pull of his beer.

Harry introduced Louis to the rest of his co-workers who were circling the bar like sharks. They were all slightly over-protective of Harry, but he was used to it. Everyone treated him like their little brother or their son, even Lu and Nic who were younger than him, and he’d only known Nic for a few weeks! Of course, Louis immediately won over everyone. Within half an hour, Harry’s friends were telling him to “be nice” to Louis and “take good care of him!” Harry assured them that he would do all of that and more, there was no need to worry. 

Harry finished his second beer, tossed the bottle into the recycling bin and stood up as Louis came to stand behind his bar stool. Harry turned around and asked, “What happened to your glasses?”

“Oh, I don’t always wear them. I, um, actually wear contacts most of the time, but I ran out last week. Just got new ones in the mail Tuesday,” Louis explained.

Harry brought his hand to Louis’ shoulder and moved his mouth close to his ear and whispered, “Your eyes are beautiful.” He leaned back and ran his hand up and down the outside of Louis’ arm. “Did you ride your skateboard here?”

“Nah, I rode with Li,” Louis quietly answered as he looked around the bar for his friend. 

Everyone was watching them. He raised his eyes to meet Harry’s and offered, “I’d like to walk you home, if that’s alright. Your truck isn’t here, right? Niall said you guys usually walk to work.”

“Yeah, okay. Let me pay for my beer and we can go,” Harry replied. He pulled a five out of his wallet and laid it on the bar. “Ni, Lou’s walkin’ me. See ya at home, okay?”

“Ok, man, see ya,” Niall said with a broad grin and turned to look at Liam. “Looks like you’ve been abandoned, Liam. Another?” Niall asked as he picked up Liam’s empty and tossed it in the recycling bin.

Louis placed his hand on the small of Harry’s back and led him out of the restaurant. They turned at the corner and headed up the sidewalk while Louis told Harry about his day at the shop and his plans for the following early morning.

“Thank you for coming to see me. I’m glad I got to meet Liam. He seems like a sweet guy and he and Niall really hit it off.”

“I, um, well, I may have been complaining to Li that I missed you this week, so… I’m glad he talked me into invading your workspace.”

“I like it. You can visit me there anytime you like,” Harry offered. “Though, to be fair, if we’re not closed, I’m probably going to be too busy to talk, but you could still sit with Niall and have a drink.”

“Wouldn’t be worth coming if I couldn’t talk to you, dimples,” Louis said and Harry’s face broke into a wide grin. Louis softly traced his thumb around the edge of the dimple in Harry’s left cheek. “There it is. Dimples.” They reached the front walk to Harry’s house and stopped. Louis could easily walk home from here, but he didn’t seem to want to go just yet. He glanced toward the porch like he was asking an invitation.

“Come inside,” Harry suggested. “I might have some beer. I definitely have some questionable red wine.”

Louis nodded his agreement and climbed the steps with Harry right behind him.

They sat on the front porch with a couple of mugs filled with wine. The quiet was easy between them. They talked, but not about anything heavy, and while they sipped their wine, they watched the lightning bugs flicker on and off in the yard. Harry felt a buzz in his pocket and realized he’d never turned his ringer back on after work. He took a peek at his phone to see a short text from Niall, ‘bar w li’, he checked the time and was surprised to see that it was a quarter to twelve.

“You’ve got to go home!” he blurted out. “It’s almost midnight!”

Louis eyes widened; the time had apparently slipped by him, too. “Shit, five o’clock is going to come early.” He grumbled and pushed his chair back.

Harry didn’t know what to say, he didn’t want to Louis to leave, but he knew that keeping him up late wouldn’t be right. He collected their mugs and the empty wine bottle as he thought about driving Louis home, but then he remembered their conversation about dating rules and he decided to put forward his idea before he could change his mind. “You could stay here.”

“Really? I mean, I would, but I don’t want to wake you up at five,” Louis declined with a shake of his head. “Thanks, though, I’ll just walk it, it’s not far.”

“No, um, it’s no problem, I…” Harry faltered, “well, you said you have a plan? Like a list of places that you go to on Saturdays?”

“Yeah, I have a list of sales and stuff that I’ll visit in the morning, why?” Louis tilted his head and squinted his eyes.

“I could go with you, maybe? I like antiques and stuff… and, um, it sound fun? Is that weird?” 

Louis’ smile could light up the world. “If it’s weird, then I’m weird, too, I guess. Yeah, that would be fun. I’d like to have you come with me. We’ll have to go to my shop first thing so I can get my truck, but yeah… I’d like to stay.”

Harry opened the door and led Louis inside the house. He carried the mugs and empty wine bottle to the kitchen, sat them on the counter, then he showed Louis to his bedroom. He clicked on the lamp and a warm light filled the room. “This is my lamp.” Harry snickered. “To be clear, I don’t need any help with it, it works just fine.” He sat down on the edge of his bed and patted the spot next to him. He pulled his boots off and threw them in the direction of the closet.

“Do you want to shower or anything? I have a toothbrush you can use, I think.” 

“No, I showered right before we came up the restaurant. I’ll take the toothbrush though.” Louis toed his shoes off and nudged them under the edge of the bed.

“Bathroom’s around the corner.” Harry jerked his thumb to the right. “Go ahead and I’ll shower when you’re done.”

Harry had been trying to hide his nervousness and he thought he was doing a pretty good job, but he needed a minute to collect himself. He was going to be sleeping in the same bed as Louis. His heart was pounding and he’d started to sweat.

He unbuttoned his shirt and lobbed it at the hamper, unbuckled his belt, popped the button on his pants, unzipped them and kicked them off. He started to peel off his underwear when he remembered that Louis was in the bathroom and hadn’t seen him naked or even in his boxers before. He was standing in the center of the room with his back to the door, contemplating putting his work uniform back on when Louis returned from the bathroom. 

Louis gasped and Harry’s head whipped around, his eyes wide. He dashed past Louis and called over his shoulder, “I’ll just be a minute!” as he skidded into the bathroom in his sock feet.

 

Harry showered efficiently, brushed his teeth while the conditioner soaked into his hair, then quickly finished up. He was wrapping the towel around his waist when he realized he hadn't brought any clothes to change into. Oh my god, Louis was going to see him naked and he wasn’t prepared. 

He was going to have to suck it up and deal. He collected his dirty socks and underwear, took a deep breath and headed back to his room. He opened his bedroom door to see Louis sitting up on the far side of the bed. He was still wearing his t-shirt, but his lower body was hidden by the blanket. He was in the middle of doing something to his eyes. Harry tilted his head and watched until Louis looked at him and explained, “I just realized I don’t have my contacts case or anything, so I just took them out and threw them away. They’re disposable, but I’ll have to grab my spare glasses from the shop in the morning.” 

His eyes traveled down Harry’s face to his mouth, neck, and chest. As Louis’ eyes roamed over Harry’s body, they paused at the tattoos on his chest and stomach. He loved his tattoos. He had so many that he’d stopped counting a few years ago, his left arm was almost completely covered, and he had an eagle on his right forearm, but his favorites were the birds on his chest, the large detailed butterfly on his upper abdomen, and the laurel leaves on his hips. Harry could feel himself flushing. His chest and neck got warm, then the blush traveled up to his cheeks. 

It was now or never, so he stepped over to his dresser with his back to Louis, pulled open the top drawer and pulled out a pair of boxer briefs. He took a deep breath and dropped his towel. Shit. He was going to have to bend over. He did not think this through. Shit. Either Louis was going to get an eyeful of his ass or his cock, and his ass was already on display, so he bent over, stepped into his boxers and quickly pulled them up. He spun around to find Louis staring, cheeks pink, mouth open and eyes wide. 

“Hey,” Harry softly said as he slipped beneath the covers to lie down, “do you need anything?”

Louis yawned and wriggled down from his sitting position until his head was on the pillow, then he rolled onto his side to face Harry. “No, I’m good. Phone’s charged, alarm’s set. Thanks, though.”

Harry reached for the lamp and switched it off. He rolled toward Louis and whispered, “I feel silly. I want to kiss you, but I’m nervous and I keep thinking that you have to wake up at five.”

“Kiss me,” Louis murmured and he tilted his head as he combed his fingers through Harry’s damp hair. Harry angled his head in the opposite direction and nudged their lips together. So soft and warm. Louis’ beard tickled his face and he wondered briefly if he’d have beard burn in the morning. 

He brushed his hand down Louis’ side and slipped it beneath his t-shirt, curled his fingers around Louis’ waist and lightly squeezed. Louis’ hand was still combing Harry’s hair. Their kisses grew heated after a moment, Louis’ tongue licked along Harry’s lower lip and Harry opened his mouth and moaned. Louis pushed himself closer and their tongues slid together. As they kissed, Harry’s hand roamed up his back, around his ribs, to his chest. He brushed Louis’ nipple back and forth with his thumb and then his hand was traveling back over his ribs, over the dip in his waist and onto his hip. He stroked Louis’ hip up and down with the palm of his hand before giving in and reaching around for his bum. 

They both moaned as Harry squeezed his ass and pulled them closer together. He rolled onto his back, swinging Louis on top of him. Harry could feel Louis’ hard cock against him. His hips jerked upward seeking more friction, more pressure. His hands were gripping either side of Louis’ ass and pulling him closer. He needed more. He reached up to pull at Louis’ shirt.

“Off. Take it off,” he begged. “Please.” The shirt was gone in seconds. Louis settled back down, and their bare chests pressed together. It still wasn’t enough. Harry traced his fingers down either side of Louis’ spine and then along the elastic of Louis’ underwear, silently asking for permission. Louis lifted his hips and Harry tugged them down his thighs. He moved his hands down to his own waist and pushed his boxers down. There. Hot. Skin on skin. 

They moved together, rutting against each other, hard cocks sliding along in the sweat of their bodies, Harry’s hands held Louis’ ass and Louis’ arms were locked on either side of Harry’s head. Louis was kissing his neck like he instinctively knew all of Harry’s sensitive spots. 

Harry reached between their bodies with his right hand and Louis propped himself up a bit as Harry grabbed hold of their dicks. Louis threw his head back and growled. Harry easily fit both of their hard cocks in his palm. He dragged a thumb over the heads of both to collect what was practically dripping onto his belly. He spread it as well as he could before bringing his hand to his mouth and wetting it with his tongue. 

Oh, he tasted Louis, oh, wow. He let out a low guttural sound. He was losing his concentration. He took a deep breath and began to wank them both in earnest. Louis started fucking into his hand while Harry continued to squeeze and massage his ass. Harry was close, it had been so long since he’d been with someone like this; he wasn’t going to last. 

He wanted to make Louis come, so he began to trail his fingers down Louis crack. He used the palm of his hand to pull his ass cheeks apart and dipped his fingers down to rub closer and closer to his hole. Louis shuddered and fucked harder into Harry’s fist. It was a frenzy of movement, Harry’s hand on their cocks, Harry rutting upward against Louis, Louis fucking Harry’s fist, and finally Harry’s finger circling his hole. Harry pressed lightly with one finger, not wanting to hurt Louis, but Louis arched his back and the tip of Harry’s index finger popped inside. 

They moaned into each other’s mouths, they weren’t kissing anymore, but instead were panting as their foreheads pressed together. Harry stroked around the outside of Louis’ asshole with his middle finger and the movement of Louis hips faltered. Harry squeezed their cocks tighter and continued to stroke as Louis came with a stuttering groan. Harry held on and Louis kept fucking his fist as the last of his come splattered on Harry’s belly. He took a shaky breath, pushed himself up and Harry’s finger slipped out of his hole, he sat back on his knees and knocked Harry’s hand out of the way as he wrapped his own hand around Harry’s cock and began to talk as he pulled him off fast and hard.

“Come on, Harry, come for me, yeah? God, you’re so big, baby, can’t wait to feel you inside me. Gonna be so good. Come on, baby, come.” Louis purred encouragement and Harry came with a loud grunt, ropes of white shooting across his chest and stomach, painting the wings of his butterfly. Louis drew his fingertips through the mess on Harry's belly and traced the shape of a heart. Then, he lifted his head and locked his gaze on Harry's eyes, as he brought his fingers to his mouth and, one by one, sucked them clean. 

Harry groaned and crossed his arms over his face. “Oh my god, Lou, that was incredible,” he panted, “do it again.”

Louis barked a laugh and leaned in for a kiss. “Tomorrow?” he asked. 

“Shit, yeah, it's like almost 1am!” Harry scrambled to open the drawer in his bedside table. He pulled a few wet wipes out and carefully cleaned the mess off of Louis, then wiped his own belly, chest and softened cock. Louis watched quietly from his spot between Harry's legs. Harry tossed the used wipes onto the floor and pulled Louis back down on top of him. They wiggled around until they were both comfortable. Harry stayed on his back with his arms around Louis who slipped off to the side and cuddled up under Harry's arm with his head on his chest. 

“Night, Lou.” Harry closed his eyes and murmured into Louis’ hair. 

“Night, baby, I'll wake you up in a few hours.” Louis kissed Harry's chest and they both drifted off to sleep.


	6. The Third Date

A familiar song was playing in Harry’s dream “...I want to tell you everything, the words I never got to say…” He started to wake up, he rubbed his eyes, he was warm and it was still dark. He felt the blanket shift and opened his eyes to find Louis glowing in the light from his phone. 

“Sorry, sorry, that was my alarm,” Louis whispered. “You can go back to sleep.”

It was still dark outside, the only light in the room came from Louis’ phone. Harry pushed himself to sitting and murmured, “Not sleeping...coming with you.”

“Alright, Harry, up we get then, time to make the donuts,” Louis joked as he gently pushed against Harry's shoulder. 

Harry giggled and rolled out of bed. They took turns in the bathroom, got dressed quiety and made their way through the dark house, but as they approached the front door, Harry froze in place. 

“Lou, look.” Harry pointed at a sleeping Liam curled up on the couch and snoring underneath a blanket. He and Niall must've stayed at the restaurant drinking for a while if he'd crashed here. Harry and Louis smiled at each other in the dark and silently let themselves out of the house. The boys climbed into the Bronco and were soon climbing out of the truck in tiny parking area behind The Winding Wheel. Louis opened the passenger door of his converted U-Haul truck and guided Harry up and into the seat. 

“Be right back. Just need to grab my boots and glasses.” Louis explained as he hopped down from the door. He jogged to the back of the shop, unlocked the door and stepped inside. He was back and climbing into the driver's seat within a few minutes. He started the truck and carefully pulled out onto the road and they were off. The sun was coming up and everything was pink in the early morning light. 

Louis had his Saturday morning yard sale routine down to a science. He mapped everything out ahead of time so that he started at the sale closest to his shop and worked his way around town. There were usually one or two sales a little further out that he saved for last. After he’d visited the last place on his list, he’d stop at Julia’s for a coffee, sit at the little table in the corner, and make a new list of yard sales to revisit. As soon as he finished his list, he’d be back on the road. Sometimes people were a lot more willing to bargain on the price of their grandfather’s old desk at 8am than they were at 6am. 

Harry tagged along, standing back to observe Louis as he talked to people. He was fascinating to watch. He was able to immediately put people at ease. Just as he’d won everyone over at the restaurant the night before, he won over the people he’d come to bargain with. He quickly had people agreeing to lower prices on things that, just minutes before, they couldn’t part with for less than the asking price, and they all seemed happy to do it for Louis. They arrived at Julia’s bakery at 7:30 just as she was putting out a fresh batch of chocolate croissants. She greeted them with a broad grin and nodded at the corner table, “I’ll bring your usual.” The boys sat down and Louis worked on his list, explaining to Harry as he moved along. Soon enough, they were back in the truck. 

Just before 9am, Louis was carefully backing the truck up to the rear door of the shop so they could unload the day’s purchases. He’d found the perfect dining room table and chairs for Katie. Harry was eager to hear anything that Louis had to say about his antique shop, so he talked as he worked.

“This dining set is an excellent find. It’s pretty typical mid-century modern Danish design and it’s in great shape. The seat cushions will need to be reupholstered, but I can do that for her.”

 

Louis and Harry made quick work unloading the back of the truck. Louis had made it clear to him that he was only letting him help because Katie’s table was the heaviest thing they had to move. Louis said if he wanted to make this a regular thing, he’d have to get his own pair of steel-toe boots. Harry froze where he stood in the back room of the shop. He was waiting for his tea when what Louis had said hit him. He’d mentioned a future of early Saturday mornings with Harry and said it so nonchalantly that Harry hadn’t picked up on it.

“Harry? Tea?” Louis called from the door. 

“Please.” He sidled up behind Louis and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, nuzzling the back of his neck, “I haven’t kissed you yet this morning.” He kissed the side of his neck and slowly spun him around in his arms so that he could kiss him properly. They held each other and kissed chastely for a few minutes until the kettle whistled and they stepped apart so Louis could make their tea. 

“When do you have to go or are you spending all day with me?” Louis asked and Harry noticed his hopeful tone. 

Harry looked at the sunburst clock hanging above Louis’ head and did the mental calculation. “I can hang out for maybe an hour? Is that okay? I don’t want to be in the way or keep you from doing whatever you need to do.”

“You’ve earned your keep today, so I guess you can stay,” Louis quipped. “If you aren’t careful, I’ll have to start paying you. I don’t have a big to do list today. Just need to figure out where to put all this new stuff, clean this table for Katie and give her a call in a bit. In fact, I’ll go ahead and call her now, I know she’s up and maybe we can figure out this upholstery.”

Harry leaned over and pressed a quick peck to Louis’ cheek. “I’m gonna go look around the shop while you’re on the phone.”

__________________________

 

After saying goodbye to Harry, Louis worked through his short to do list in no time. Between customers, phone calls and the table, Louis’ day was full. He took a break to make a cup of tea and realized it was almost 5pm, so he hurriedly cleaned up, closed the shop, and called Liam to ask for a ride home. He could walk, but he needed to talk to Liam.

With Liam’s help, Louis fleshed out his plan. He wanted to cook dinner for Harry and have him over to the apartment for a proper date. With Harry’s busy schedule of work, class, and studying, a romantic dinner out was not in the stars. Liam cleaned the living room and kitchen while Louis worked in his bedroom and bathroom. Within an hour, the apartment was sparkling. Louis had even found a few candles to put on his dresser and the breakfast bar. The boys searched online for a recipe that Louis could make and, once they decided, they made a list and drove to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients. Liam texted Niall to tell him the plan and ask if he could come hang out and possibly borrow his couch again that night. It turned out that they had had a blast hanging out the night before at the restaurant, they’d gone to the corner bar to shoot pool, and spent the evening laughing and fighting over the juke box. They’d exchanged numbers that morning after Liam made coffee and Niall had offered to kick Harry out so that Liam could move in. Apparently, Niall was a big fan of surprises and had a few ideas of his own. He offered to meet Louis in the alley behind the restaurant with a few bottles of wine and promised to help Harry get out of work early. 

_______________________

Things were going perfectly according to plan.

Louis spent the evening preparing their dinner while Liam worked on his lesson plans for the following week of school. He’d never cooked a meal for anyone before, so he was a little nervous. Usually, when he cooked, he made pasta or simple things like baked chicken and roasted vegetables. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d followed a recipe, he thought it might have been when he made gingerbread cookies with his mom last Christmas. He read the entire recipe and each step of the instructions twice before starting, and as he worked, he grew more confident. By the time he had everything prepped and ready to cook, he was sure the meal would turn out perfectly. He set the oven to the lowest setting to preheat and took a quick shower. His hair didn’t take long to dry and soon he was back in front of the stove. As soon as he finished cooking, he covered the pans and put them in the oven to keep warm. He’d timed it perfectly. It was 9:30 and Niall had promised to deliver Harry to the front door of the restaurant at 9:45. There was just enough time for Liam to take a quick shower and they were on their way. 

_________________________________

“Niall, what the hell are you doing?” Harry demanded after he watched his friend fill the server station ice bin and set about cleaning the coffee machine. “This is my side work. The soda machine is clean, the silverware is all rolled, the bread warmer is empty… are you trying to bribe me or something? You’ve been strange all night? What do you want? Hmm?”

Niall cackled, but he kept cleaning the server station. “I’m not angling for anything, H. Did ya run your report already?”

“Yeah… just gave my money to your mom. Why? You are being so weird, Ni.”

“Do me a favor?”

“Maybe.”

“Since I did your side work--”

“Here it comes.”

“Go check the front door and make sure it’s locked.”

Harry squinted and pursed his lips, “Yeah, okay,”

Harry walked through the dining room to the restaurant entrance. As he reached for the lock, the door opened, and startled, he jumped back. He relaxed when he saw who it was. “Lou!”

“Hello,” Louis extended the ‘o’ sound and bowed, “your chariot awaits.”

“What?” Harry asked with a chuckle. 

“Thanks, Niall!” Louis called over Harry’s shoulder. “I owe you.”

“What?” Harry asked again. “What is going on?” 

“Have a good night, Harry, see ya later!” Niall shouted from behind the bar.

Harry knew the confusion on his face was plain. His mouth was slightly open and he felt the wrinkle between his eyebrows. Louis grabbed his hand, tugged him close, placed a warm kiss on his cheek and whispered, “Do you trust me?”

“Yes, yeah, of course,” Harry replied as he followed Louis onto the sidewalk. “I’m just confused. What’s going on?”

Louis led him by the hand to the open passenger door of a running, older, green Toyota Camry and motioned for Harry to sit. He folded himself into the front seat and Louis closed the door. Harry tracked Louis as he walked around the front of the car, opened the door and slid into the driver’s seat. Louis looked over his left shoulder and pulled into the street. He was silent as he drove, but he placed his right hand on Harry’s thigh and gave it a reassuring squeeze and a few pats. They soon pulled into Louis’ driveway. “Wait here!” Louis requested as he hurried around to Harry’s door and opened it with a flourish. 

Harry tried to be smooth, but he was accustomed to a taller vehicle, so he clambered out of the car and felt lucky not to trip. Louis reached for his hand and led him up the stairs to his apartment. Once inside, he pulled him toward the bathroom and handed him the bag Niall had packed along with a clean towel, then turned on the shower for him. 

“Take a shower, relax, take as long as you like. Niall packed your bag, so I hope everything you’ll need is in there. My soap and stuff is in there… um, I’ll be in the kitchen when you’re done.” And he backed out of the room and closed the door. Harry was a bit baffled, but quickly stripped out of his work clothes and stepped into the hot shower. He washed with Louis’ shower gel and used some of his conditioner on his hair and smiled at the thought of smelling like his boyfriend. He didn’t know what Louis had planned for the night, but he washed extra carefully just in case. 

As he rinsed the last suds from his body, he sighed with happiness. He was elated just to be near Louis and he got the feeling that Louis felt the same way. He finished drying and dug through his bag to find his toothbrush, his favorite white t-shirt, his softest sweatpants, and nothing else. Harry shrugged and dressed. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d gone without underwear. He neatly folded his work clothes and stuffed them into the bag. 

As soon as he opened the bathroom door, he smelled something delicious and he suddenly realized how hungry he was. He followed his nose into the kitchen where Louis was sitting, waiting for him. He dropped his bag to the floor and glanced around the room. The lights were off, but there were a few candles along the top of the breakfast bar. Louis was beautiful in the candlelight.

He gestured in invitation toward the stool next to him, so Harry sat down. 

“Hey, I hope you’re okay with all this...um, secret spy stuff. I wanted to take you out for a fancy, romantic dinner, but I knew it would be a pain in the ass with your job and school and stuff...so I, um, cooked you dinner. I hope it’s good. I’ve never made it before. Liam helped me find the recipe, but I did all the cooking and stuff.” Louis held up two of the half empty wine bottles. “Do you want wine?”

Harry was taken aback and couldn’t help but laugh. This was such a sweet gesture and he was thrilled with the prospect of a romantic, candle lit dinner with Louis. He beamed, “I love it, Lou. Yes, please, wine and, um, thank you.” 

Louis poured the wine and pointed to the food, “It’s chicken, stuffed with mozzarella cheese, wrapped in parma ham, with a side of homemade mashed potatoes.” He gestured as he described each part of the meal and Harry found it adorable.

The food was wonderful and Harry told him so. He cooked for people all the time, but no one he’d dated had ever made him a meal like this. He felt special and cared for. 

He felt loved. 

He almost choked on his potatoes, but covered it with a tiny cough and a big gulp of wine. 

They ate without much conversation. Once they finished, Louis hopped up to clear their plates. He blew out the candles and asked, “Come with me?” He sounded uncertain. So Harry reached for Louis’ hand, placed a kiss on his knuckles, and followed him through the dark. 

Louis’ bedroom was lit with only a few candles and smelled like vanilla cupcakes. The bed was neatly made with the comforter and top sheet turned down. Louis gently grasped both of Harry’s hands and pulled him into the room. “I don’t want you to think that I’m expecting anything. I wanted to give you a nice night and I wanted to offer you to, um, well, you could stay here? Liam is going to sleep at yours tonight, if that’s okay.”

“Hush,” Harry murmured as he walked Louis backwards to the bed. “You’re so… sweet.” he kissed his cheek, “and gorgeous,” he kissed his other cheek, “and just lovely,” he kissed his nose, “and I’m so happy to have met you, Lou,” and he dived in to capture his lips in a kiss.

They kissed until they were both breathless and Harry had to stop to collect himself. He placed little kisses on the scruffy beard on Louis’ jaw, down the side of his neck and back up again. 

“Take off your shirt, Lou,” Harry instructed, then pulled his own shirt over his head. Louis tugged his shirt off and kissed Harry again, their tongues tangled together. But Harry had other ideas. “On the bed. Lie down,” Louis scrambled to obey. He crawled onto the bed, caging Louis in with his arms on either side of his head, one knee between his thighs. 

“Did I say thank you for tonight?” Harry asked, his voice gruff, “Thank you, Lou,” he dipped down to suck Louis’ bottom lip into his mouth, “Mmm...I’m gonna fuck you, I think. I was gonna ask you to fuck me, but I think I want to fuck you tonight. Is that okay?”

Louis nodded, pulled Harry down onto his body and set about kissing him senseless. Louis’ kisses were amazing; his mouth was sweet and warm, and the taste was uniquely Louis. Harry felt like he could kiss him for hours. Soon, they were rutting against each other, their clothed cocks begging for attention. Harry sat back and popped the button on Louis’ jeans, pulled down the zip, and in one long swoop Louis was completely naked. Harry took a few seconds to feast his eyes on the beautiful body spread out in front of him. He ran his hands up Louis’ thighs and squeezed. He hummed as he massaged the firm muscles, then he trailed his thumbs through the hair at the top of his inner thighs. 

“So gorgeous. Can’t wait to be inside you. ” Before he was able to ask, Louis had flung his arm out to pull open his bedside table drawer. Harry reached inside and found condoms and lube right on top. It seemed Louis had thought of everything. He dropped them onto the mattress, closed the drawer and went in for more kisses. Harry leaned onto one arm and cupped Louis’ face with his other hand. He trailed kisses down his neck, nipped at his collarbones, and continued down his chest until he found a nipple. His tongue peeked out and he circled it around and around until the skin hardened in the cool air, then he gently bit down. Louis moaned, his fingers were twisted in Harry’s hair and he guided his head to the other side. Harry gave his other nipple the same treatment and was gifted another broken moan. 

He made his way down Louis’ belly, kissing, licking and nibbling back and forth until he reached the softness around his bellybutton, where he bit down and sucked. Harry scooted down until his face was level with Louis’ groin and he pressed kisses into his hips. He nudged Louis’ legs wider and kissed around to the backs of his thighs. Harry flipped him over using his leg for leverage and continued to cover the backs of his thighs with kisses. He found a spot below the crease where his ass met his leg and he bit down. Louis cried out and arched his back, pushing his ass closer to Harry’s face. He kissed the bite mark and then sucked a bruise right on top of it.

“Can I, Lou? I wanna taste you. Please?” Harry implored Louis to let him lick him out. He waited only a moment before Louis nodded vigorously. “Yeah, okay, um, can I put a pillow under you?” Louis arranged himself on top of a pillow, with his head cradled on his arms. Harry watched him take a deep breath and as he exhaled, Harry grabbed his ass and squeezed. “You have no idea… I wanted to do this the first day I met you. So hot, Lou.” He placed a kiss on each ass cheek, sat back, lightly smacked it and watched it bounce. Harry chuckled. “Love it.”

He started with kisses. Light, easy, sweet, closed mouth kisses. He kissed every square inch of the skin on his bum. Starting at the bottom of his spine, he went in a spiral, kissing around and around and just when he got close to the middle, he stopped. He massaged and squeezed, pushing and finally pulling his cheeks apart. He dipped down and licked from bottom to top with the flat of his tongue and was rewarded with a low groan. He licked and kissed his way up and down, always close, but not quite close enough to the center. 

Louis moaned and cried out. “Please, Harry!” So he gripped his ass and the top of his thighs tighter and gave in. He placed a wet kiss directly on his tight hole and began licking him out in earnest. He lapped at his rim and hummed, licked and bit until Louis started to fuck into the pillow. Then he pointed his tongue and pushed inside. He fucked him with his tongue over and over until he was dizzy with want, then sat back and gave his cock a squeeze to center himself while he trailed his fingers up and down Louis’ cleft. 

Harry quickly kicked off his sweatpants, opened the lube, slicked his fingers and settled back down to eat his boyfriend’s ass again. He pulled his cheeks apart with one hand and massaged his rim with a lubed finger. Louis was loud. The noises he made were incredible. The more Harry gave him, the louder he responded. They were feeding off of each other's need. Harry closed his eyes and groaned and pushed his finger into the second knuckle. Louis pushed back and Harry's finger was suddenly buried inside him. “Fuck,” Harry grunted. He licked around his finger and slowly started pumping it in and out. 

He loved this part. Watching his fingers find room where there wasn't any. Watching the muscles as they stretched and opened. Making space for his cock. 

He squeezed more lube onto his fingers and pushed a second one in beside the first. He held them still, just looking for a minute, where Louis was stretched around his fingers. Louis was begging for more, for anything, more tongue, more movement. He started fucking himself back onto Harry's fingers, so Harry let him and just watched. “Yeah, Lou, that's fucking hot,” he drizzled more lube straight onto his hole and watched as his boyfriend continued to rock back onto his fingers. He scissored his fingers; pushed and twisted. 

“Roll over, baby, I'm gonna suck you,” Harry ordered as he pulled his fingers free and smacked his ass again. “Fuck. There it is.” He helped Louis get comfortable on his back, adjusted the pillow under his bum, and slipped two fingers back inside. “Oh my god, baby, look at you,” Harry was in awe. He couldn't believe this gorgeous man was his. 

Louis tried to fuck himself on Harry's fingers, but he knew it couldn’t be easy from that angle. His eyes were closed and he was biting his lower lip. “Baby, relax,” Harry soothed him. “Relax. Let me suck you, okay?” 

Louis stopped moving and opened his eyes. He nodded and smiled as Harry leaned forward and placed a kiss on the head of his dripping cock. He wrapped his hand around the base and licked around the head, tasting him, then closed his mouth around his dick and sucked. His head bobbed up and down, meeting his fist again and again, while he lazily pumped two fingers in and out of his ass. He was beyond ready, but he wanted to make this so good for Louis, so he slipped a third finger in and held steady while he sucked and licked. 

Louis was doing everything he could to grind down onto Harry’s fingers, then up into his mouth, but his motions were erratic. Harry licked, fingered, and sucked with such focus on touching, tasting, and smelling, that he’d momentarily stopped seeing and hearing. He never wanted to stop…

“Stop! Harry, I’m gonna come if you don’t stop, please!” Louis shouted and squirmed. Harry pulled off of his cock and regretfully removed his fingers.

“I’m sorry, Lou, so good, you’re so good. Taste so good. Gonna fuck you now, okay?” He rolled on the condom and slicked up his dick. Fuck. He crawled closer and pushed Louis’ thighs back, then pressed forward, the head of his cock popped past the tight ring of muscle and Harry stopped to take a deep breath. Louis arched his back and almost impaled himself.

“In me, please, oh god, Harry,” he begged. Harry thrust forward, inch by inch, until he was balls deep. They moaned in unison and Harry bent down for a kiss. Louis whimpered into his mouth, kissing him back forcefully, biting at his lips. 

“I’m ready. Fuck me now.” 

Harry pulled back slowly until just the head of his cock remained inside, then drove forward in one long stroke. He fucked him slowly, taking his time, fucking his mouth with his tongue in the same rhythm. He lost himself in the music of Louis. Every sound he made encouraged him, he twisted his hips to the tempo of Louis’ groans and thrust into him again and again. “H-H-Harry, I can’t… I’m gonna come.” Louis whined and thrashed against the sheets.

“Yeah, yes, fuck!” Harry growled. He sat back a bit and tossed Louis’ legs over his shoulders. “Touch yourself, Lou, I wanna see it.” He watched Louis wank himself in time to his thrusts, pressed closer and drove harder and faster until he felt Louis tighten around him. Louis came with a shout, stripes of white painting his chest as Harry fucked him through it. Then, his own hips stuttered as his orgasm washed over him. He cried out and continued to pump into Louis as he filled the condom and then collapsed on top of him. Harry panted into Louis’ neck, trying to catch his breath, while placing sweet kisses one on top of another. After a moment, he gingerly pulled out and rolled to the side and out of bed. He tossed the condom in the trashcan and flopped back down beside Louis. They lay together in the quiet, candle lit room, come drying on Louis’ stomach, sweat cooling on their bodies. 

“I’ve been laying here trying to say something, but ‘fuck’ and ‘oh my god’ are the all I can think of,” Louis muttered.

Harry snorted and poked him in the ribs. “That sounded like more words than ‘fuck’ and ‘oh my god’ to me. Do you want to shower?”

Louis shook his head, “Nope. Shower in the morning. Too tired.”

“Yeah. I’m gonna grab a washcloth and clean us up,” Harry said as he stood up and stretched. 

He washed his face and hands, then reappeared with a warm, damp washcloth and painstakingly wiped the mess from Louis’ belly, carefully cleaned the lube and spit from his bum, and placed a kiss to the head of his softened cock. He tossed the washcloth into the bathroom sink and returned to bed. “That was amazing, Lou, thank you for tonight.” He brushed their lips together once and let his head fall back onto the pillow.

“Harry, that was beyond amazing. I’ve never been so thoroughly fucked in my life. Like… I still don’t know what to say because you, apparently, fucked my brain out of me, and you’re thanking me. I can’t believe you.” Louis rambled and snuggled up to Harry’s side. “Roll over. I’m gonna spoon you so hard, you’re not gonna know what hit you.” 

Harry giggled and rolled over. He’d never been the little spoon before, but he’d always wanted to. Louis was warm against his back and he drifted off to sleep to the feel of Louis’ soft breath on his neck.


	7. The Epilogue

2 YEARS LATER

“Baby, you look great. What are you worried about? You know everyone there, you’ve done this before, there are no surprises.” Louis reassured Harry from the other side of the bathroom door.

“Ugh. Fine. I don’t like the cap with my hair, but it’s fine.” Harry grumbled. “Where’s Niall? We’re gonna be late if he’s not ready.” 

Louis guided him to the front door where Harry stepped into his boots. “Niall’s in the car. Keys? Wallet? Phone? Anything else you need?” Louis asked.

Harry patted his pockets. “Nope, got it all,” he replied as he leaned in to brush his lips across his boyfriend’s. “Thank you, you know, for everything.”

“Anything for you, baby, you know that.” Louis smiled and guided him out the door to the waiting car. His old Bronco had been put to rest last year. They arrived at the football field in no time and they all piled out of the car. After a quick kiss, Harry rushed off to meet the rest of the members of his graduate program, and Louis was left to escort everyone to their seats. It was a warm May Saturday morning and everyone wanted to find a bit of shade. He helped free the twins from their car seats, balanced one baby on his hip, and led the eclectic group of their friends and family to the seats on the side of the football field. 

Harry walked across the stage and shook hands with the deans and returned to his seat among cheers and yells from the stands. Niall could be very loud when he was excited and this was a big day. Soon enough, the ceremony was over, and they stopped by the house so Harry could change out of his cap and gown.

Louis unzipped Harry’s graduation gown. “I’m so proud of you, baby. You’ve worked so hard for this and now you’re finally done.” Louis twirled Harry's hair around his fingers. It had grown so long and was so curly. He loved it. 

“Thank you.” Harry kissed his nose. “It’s going to be so strange not to have class anymore! Can you imagine me coming home from work and not having to study?” Harry asked. “It’s been six years, Lou. I won’t know what to do with myself.”

“Well, see, I have some ideas. I’ve been working on this list for about two years. I titled it ‘Things To Do When Harry Has Time’ and it’s a pretty long list. I could tell you about it. Or show you.” Louis suggested as he pulled Harry into a kiss. He loved kissing Harry. He did it every day and planned to do it for the rest of his life. 

“Is the first thing on the list ‘Get Harry to his graduation party on time’ or ‘Make Harry late for his graduation party’?” Harry teased. Louis was so happy to be here with Harry. They’d been together for just over two years now, with no signs of stopping. They spent nearly all of their free time together, slept over with each other every night, and spent every Saturday morning together riding around in his truck visiting yard sales. Harry earned his master’s degree by taking classes in the evening and summers, all while working as the librarian in the local elementary school. Graduating meant his summers free, a higher pay scale, tuition reimbursement from the state, and most importantly, more time with Louis. 

“Well, item number one on the list is ‘Blow Harry against this wall’ but,” Louis said as he walked Harry back into the bedroom wall, “I guess ‘Make Harry late for his graduation party’ could be item 1A or something.” He dropped to his knees.

Louis unbuckled Harry’s belt, popped the button on his trousers, unzipped them, and let them fall to the floor. “These are easier to take off than your jeans,” Louis muttered as he mouthed at Harry’s cock through his boxer briefs. He nudged Harry’s balls with his nose and inhaled. The smell of Harry was intoxicating. He trailed his hands down the front Harry’s thighs as he nuzzled his face into his hip. 

“Love you, baby, can’t wait to get my mouth on you,” he murmured as he slid his fingers under the waistband of Harry’s underwear and tugged them down. 

He could hear Harry whimpering above him, words and groans mixing together until it was just noise, but he made out the words, “Love you, too,” and he smiled. 

He wrapped a hand around the base and licked up the underside of Harry’s cock before sucking the head into his mouth. Harry let out a loud groan and threaded his fingers through Louis’ hair. Louis took him further into his mouth, his lips wrapped tightly around the shaft. He sucked as he pulled back, then worked his way back down. He bobbed his head, lapping underneath the head with the flat of his tongue. He alternated sucking on the head and taking as much as he could into his mouth. He groaned and took him deeper until the head of Harry’s cock nudged the back of his throat. 

He worked him like that until Harry’s thighs shook and Louis pressed an arm across his lower belly to help keep him upright. He unwrapped his hand from Harry’s cock and reached between his legs, his fingers searching for that puckered skin, then he traced around the outside with one finger. He took him deep into his throat again as he pressed the tip of his dry finger against Harry’s hole and Harry came without warning, shooting down Louis’ throat. Louis pulled off and let the rest fill his mouth, then swallowed it down. 

Louis tugged Harry's underwear back up, pulled his pants on, and fastened them. He stood up and leaned in for a quick kiss as he adjusted himself in his pants. 

“Let me…” Harry offered and reached for the bulge in Louis’ pants. 

“Nah, we don't have time. Numbers 1 and 1A are checked off the list, though. You're officially late for your party.” Louis called as he ran to bathroom to make sure he looked presentable enough to go out in public. 

They walked through the door of Bistro33 to the sound of applause from Harry's family and friends. Amanda had arranged trays of appetizers along the bar top and Nic was behind the bar, mixing drinks. Harry spent time with each person who had come to see him, thanking them all in turn. He eventually made his way back to his boyfriend. 

“Hey, you having fun?” Louis gestured around the room.

“I am! Thanks, Lou. I've missed the restaurant. I've been so busy that I haven't seen Amanda in weeks and I honestly don't know when I last saw Lu or Nic.” Harry sighed, “I'm tired, though. It’s been a long week.”

“Ready to go home?” He placed a hand on Harry’s shoulder and gently squeezed.

“Yeah. Can we sneak out? I love that everyone’s here, but I don't want to talk anymore tonight.”

“Let's make a run for it now. Niall's telling one of his stories and no one is watching us.” And they quickly snuck out the door. 

\---------

“What were we thinking? This was a horrible idea, Lou. I just graduated yesterday. Why did we decide to move today?” Harry complained from where he was sprawled across the bare mattress. 

“We decided that, even though we signed the lease last week, we didn't want to move in until after graduation because it would be easier. Plus, I'm off today and tomorrow.” Louis explained, but sounded hurt. “This was your idea, ya know.” 

“I'm sorry, Lou. I didn't mean it like that. I'm just anxious and I've been so stressed out about school. That's over now, though. I think, maybe, I just need my boyfriend to come over here and give me some kisses.” 

Louis climbed on top of him and settled into the space between his legs. He propped himself up on his forearms and dropped his head down until their mouths were almost touching. “I love you, Harry, and I want to live with you. We practically live with each other now anyway. We’ll be alright.”

Harry closed the gap between their lips and kissed him. “I'm not worried about that, I swear! I think, um, I just wanted to complain about moving.” He kissed him again, Louis wouldn't let him turn it into anything more than closed mouth pecks. 

“C’mon, baby, we’ve got to get this done.” Louis warned as Harry pouted at him. “Niall and Liam are out there packing your dishes.” 

“What the fuck, Lou?” Harry yelled as he jumped off the bed and ran for the kitchen. 

Hours later they'd packed almost everything into Louis’ work truck. Harry was arranging boxes in the back and the boys were getting the last few things out of Harry's room. Louis carried the desk chair, followed by Liam with Harry's bedside table. They easily fit into the truck. 

“Is that it? Where's Ni?” Harry asked just as Niall appeared in the open doorway carrying Harry's lamp. It was like it happened in slow motion, Niall took a step forward and the lamp’s cord caught under the edge of the door, and jerked the lamp backwards out of Niall's hand. He spun around in an attempt to catch it, but it was too late. It crashed onto the front porch, and the ceramic shattered. 

Niall slapped a hand to his mouth and groaned to himself. “Oh, no, Niall!” He looked panic stricken as he turned around. “Harry, I'm so sorry, man! Fuck! I can't believe this shit. I broke your lamp. Again.”

Harry pulled him into a hug. “It's alright, Ni. It was an accident. No big deal. Let's clean this up.” And he went to grab the broom and dustpan. When he returned, the truck was gone. 

“I sent the boys ahead with the truck.” Louis explained, “I knew you were more upset than you wanted Niall to think. C’mere, baby.”

Harry wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, hid his face in the crook of Louis’ neck and mumbled, “I don't want to be upset. I know it's just a lamp.”

“Nah, babe, it's not just a lamp. It’s us, right? It's our story. I'm upset too.” Louis stroked the back of Harry's neck with one hand and rubbed circles into the small of his back with the other. “Let's go to the river walk on the way to the new house, yeah? We have time.”

Within a few minutes, they parked and were walking towards the gazebo. It was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon in May; you couldn't ask for better weather. They sat on their bench facing the river, their pinkies linked. After a while, Harry turned to look at Louis and said, “I love you, Lou, and thank you. I feel better now, you know, about the lamp.”

“You're welcome, baby.” Louis paused as if to gather his thoughts. “It’s, um, I can't believe it's been more than two years since the first time we sat here together. That storm was crazy.” Louis reached out and brushed his thumb across Harry's cheekbone. “But, um, it makes me think that I, um, I can't imagine my life without you now. I didn't even know you then, but I think I was already falling in love with you that night. And every day since then has been like… like everything before was just pretend and you're the only thing that's real. I don't, I'm not sure how to say this, so I'm just going to say it. No rules, right?” He chuckled. Then he slid down onto his knees in front of the bench and grabbed Harry's hand. “Will you marry me, Harry?” 

Harry stared, eyes wide with shock, mouth hanging open, and didn't say anything at all. Louis started to worry, his eyes darted away and back to his boyfriend, searching his face for a response. “Harry, I, um, if you don't…”

“No!” He interrupted. “I mean, I do! Shut up! Of course, I'll marry you! Yes! Oh my god, Lou!” He scrambled to pull Louis up and into his lap. He took a breath and tried again. “Yes, yes, I would love to marry you.” He tilted his head, cupped Louis’ cheek, and pulled him into a kiss. Louis’ relief was palpable. Harry gently stroked his cheek and kissed him there, then rested their foreheads together. “I love you. I'm gonna marry you.” 

He kissed him again and asked, “Ooh, is there a ring?” 

“Shit, yeah, hold on.” Louis wiggled out of Harry's lap and stood up, digging in his pockets with both hands. His right hand emerged, triumphant grasping gold. “It's vintage, but also, it’s, um, one of a kind. The jeweler who made it, he's an artist really, he makes everything custom. Do you like it?”

The ring was wide, with thin ropes of gold intertwined with each other to make an open weave design. The shapes between the bars of gold were uneven and varied in size, giving the impression of a fisherman’s net. Harry looked from the ring to Louis, tears gathered in his eyes. “It's perfect.”

Louis shakily exhaled a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and slipped the ring on Harry's finger. “You're perfect.” He sat down again, next to Harry, their thighs pressed together. He trailed his finger along the back of Harry's hand, then ran his finger across the ring, turned his hand over and laced their fingers together. They sat together in silence and watched the river flow by. 

“We ought to go.” Louis suggested, “The boys will be waiting for us and I know you don't want Niall unpacking anything.”

Harry sighed a little and stood up, still holding Louis’ hand. “Yeah, let's go before he breaks something else.” 

“I have something else for you. A graduation gift. We can stop by the shop and pick it up on the way.” 

“A ring wasn't enough, huh? More presents? What'd ya get me?” Harry asked and bumped their shoulders together. 

“Well, if you must know, I figured now that you won't be living with Niall anymore, you'd like something to drink out of that wasn’t plastic and didn't come from the souvenir shop at Dollywood. So, I boxed up all of your favorite teacups from the shop.”

Harry stopped and spun him around by his hand. “Lou! Real teacups!” He kissed him so fast that their noses bumped and their teeth clicked together painfully. “Ow. Sorry.”

Louis rubbed his hand over his mouth and smirked. “I also may have found you a set of vintage pink wine glasses.” Harry's eyebrows shot up in surprise, but Louis placed a finger to Harry's lips to shush him and continued on, “And an old set of cast iron pans with lids.” 

Louis dropped his hand from Harry's mouth and shrugged. 

“Lou.” Harry kissed him gently. “You,” he kissed him again, “give,” another kiss, “the best,” he kissed his nose, “presents.” He kissed him full on the mouth, immediately licking inside. He gripped his waist and pulled him flush against his body. Their tongues tangled together in a kiss that was entirely too hot for a public place in the middle of the afternoon. 

After a minute, Louis pulled back, “C'mon, let's go.” He tugged Harry's hand and they walked to the car. “We've got a lot to do. And I guess we’ve got to get you a new lamp.”

THE END

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is dedicated to [Nic](http://louandhazaf.tumblr.com), the best beta in the world! Burritos and kisses!


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